Cursed
by AelunaSheWolf
Summary: AU. Shira's life is filled with pain, suffering, and torture. Will she ever be able to settle down, and begin a new life for herself, or will her instinctive self-pride overrule the chance of her freedom? Rated T. *Complete*
1. After the Battle

Shira yelped as the great ape, named Borlo, dragged her along the icy corridors that made up the inside of the ice boat. She growled in frustration for the pain she was experiencing, and the fact that her crew and family were all gone. Killed in the pirates' battle just fifteen long minutes ago. She had been the only survivor from her ship.

Despite her valiant efforts, there was no escaping the colossal primate who seemed bored senseless to be escorting her. After about five minutes walking through the icy tunnels, he pulled her to a sudden stop and dragged her effortlessly towards a wooden surface, which hung by 4 vines above a dark hole in the floor. It was carelessly made of 6 small branches, fastened loosely by yet more vines. The raft-like contraption was roughly 1 meter by 1 meter in area, and Shira was silver-grey saber knew that was where she was going. "No, no, no!" Shira thought to herself, struggling pointlessly to avoid her fate.

The ape led her to the wood and tied the leash around a small, curved hook sticking up through the jagged branches. He then pushed her on and forced her to sit. Although she was very annoyed about being treated this way, she was relieved that at least the pressure on her collar was gone. She had been forced to wear it as soon as she set foot upon the ice vessel. It had studs pointing inwards, which pained each time she moved her head, and made each tiny amount of pressure torture. Shira's battle-weakened body was unable to resist and fight back; she had no strength in her cut and bleeding body to do anything except do as she was told.

A slight scratching noise pulled Shira back to reality, awY from dreamland which she had been imagining. What was she doing?! She should be escaping! This wasn't her crew! Why was she still here? Thoughts hit her constantly, and she began to become confused. It wasn't until the heavy rock hook was lowered and dangled under the wooden platform did the saber remember that she was completely at mercy to the pirates. Argh! The weight now tugging at her studded collar hurt her badly, and she succumbed to the pain, laying down on her paws, resting her head so at least she didn't have to use the effort to keep it up.

As she lay on the wood, groaning, she heard the sound of monkeys, and when she looked up, lo and behold, there were monkeys holding the vines with all their strength. They seemed worn out, and yet at the same time, excited. It didn't take her long to realise why, for under a minute later they had let go and Shira was hurtling into the unknown.

**Sorry it was so short, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway! Please review! I won't publish chapter two until I get 1 review, so please comment!**


	2. Into the ice

As the platform sped lower and lower, Shira began to open her eyes and look around. It was really far down, and as she zoomed past different levels she realised that the berg was sorted into ranks. Through the transparent ice, she could see first massive courtiers, the biggest complete with hot baths (how the ice stayed solid and did not melt, she had no idea). As she went further down into the berg, it was getting steadily colder, and the room quality also decreased. By the time she had reached the fourth floor, the quality was fairly lousy; beds were gone and replaced by dry grass, and a hanging leaf was all that separated them. However, to her horror, she realised she was not stopping here. She was going further down into the ice.

Suddenly, Shira felt a jerk, and she stopped going lower. Above her, she could hear a whip-crack and saw more monkeys struggling to hold her still. Shira felt the leash being loosened, and felt her collar removed. She also saw another small arm, feeling around the scruff of her neck and if she hadn't been so nervous, she would have giggled due to the tickles. What cub wouldn't? (Despite the fact she was nearly a teenager)

After about 20 seconds of tickling, the hand stopped moving and grabbed hold of the saber. She swallowed in confusion, before the monkey snapped his fingers shut and Shira gasped in pain, before collapsing on the floor of her little 'trap', unconscious.

**Sorry it's really really short, but I needed to do this bit before I could do chapter 3. I hope you don't mind. By the way, most chapters will be short now, so I can write them faster. **

**Well, we now know Shira is really quite young at this stage! **

**Reviews appreciate but not necessary.**


	3. When life goes south

_Shira awoke about an hour later, breathing heavily and confused. In front of her was a wooden grate, and beyond that what looked like a layer of translucent glass. In between the two was a bowl of water, and a small and in-appetising assortment of meats. From what Shira could tell, it was the leftovers. Yuck. She turned up her nose at the bowl of fish tails and animal claws. Even the most decent part of the meal, the tiny dry bit of shrivelled up meat, looked tasteless. Overall, the food barely covered the bottom of the small platter. _

"Are you gonna eat that?" Shira looked around. The voice appeared to be coming from below.

"Hello? I said, are you gonna eat that, kitty?"

"Dont call me kitty." Shira growled under her breath. "Where are you?"

"Down here, below you!" The voice shouted back. It poked it's tail up through the branches to make its point clearer. "Ya found me now? Course ya have, you ain't blind. You'd be a gonner if u was."

"Wat do you mean?"

"If there's anything wrong wiv t'you wen you's gets on here Berg, you'd be deader

than that

meat in yer bowl. I've seen the killin before, I has. Say, if you ain't likin the idea of leftovers, keep the strip o' meat and gimme the scraps, hmm. I'm starving down here. And if you do, I'll teach ya how to's survive this party cruise."

Shira was taken aback. The creature below her actually wanted the scraps? She wasn't going to eat it anyway, so if the animal wanted them, why waste it? "Sure. But I can't reach them through the grate. "

"Dont worry, as soon as it comes to feeding time you can gimme it then. Oh, and it looks like the monkeys have sent down another one, here's ya first tip; DUCK!"

Shira did as she was told and, thankfully, was Ok. Above her, an unconscious creature lay, and it looked like a deer. 'Poor thing.' Shira thought. After all, deer were bigger than a teen saber and she was squished as it was.

A load roar made Shira jump. Standing on a ledge on the opposite side of the room, a cave lion stood, surveying the captives.

"Now now, what do we have here, eh? More weak little workers. Now, for those of you who don't know the routine, learn. That will be all. Now get to work!" And with that, the lion scuttled up the ledge stairs and away.

"What's going o-" Shira started, but couldn't finish as a tight studded collar had, yet again, been clipped around her neck. There was hard ice walls to Shira's sides, but to her front and back were grates. The back grate was pulled up hurriedly, chains (like handcuffs) were applied to Shira's feet, which stopped her from running off, and she was dragged forcefully out of her cage.

"Don't t'ya worry, Kitty, it's only work, it-" The mystery animal below Shira cried, but her shouts were cut off with a loud yelp and the sound of a whip-crack. She could also hear the sounds of an animal gasping as it was gagged.

_Shira swallowed. How far would these pirates go to get control?_

**Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! **

**So now we know that there is a lot of brutal treatment onboard the ship, and that Shira's boat wasn't the only pirate boat targeted (as she was the only survivor off her ship, and she didnt know any of the other captives!**


	4. Rollercoaster and a Jaguar

Shira walked slowly, the chains restricting her movement. Three medium sized monkeys, like the ones she'd seen earlier, were tied together with the leash, and were pulling her, but they were too fast for the poor saber, and she kept feeling her paws scrape the rough ice and the collar cut into her throat. To either side of her were thick blocks of ice, dyed red. Shira could only assume this was to scare animals into thinking they'd be killed if they disobeyed, and to be honest, it wouldn't have surprised her. After about a minute or two of agony, Shira's paws were burning and bleeding a little, and she was whining in pain.

They rounded one last corner, neared another wooden platform, like the one the captives seemed to live on, and the monkeys undid her collar, much to her delight. They then placed her on the platform, sat her down and pulled a vine, which raised the grate infront of her and closed one behind. To finish, they tied the vine around a hook (these seem to be everywhere! Shira thought) and walked off.

Shira, who had been facing where the monkeys had walked off (she noticed they had animal fur, which was not their own, covering their feet. Lucky devils, no wonder they didnt seem to feel pain walking across the brutal floor) turned to see what was beyond the wooden platform, and, never being a big fan of heights herself, she could have screamed, when she saw the 45 degree slope down into the ice. She heard shuffling behind her, and saw one of her escorts return. He picked up a vine and pulled, and a small bucketful of seawater spilled behind Shira. The wood moved a little, and then, suddenly, began to slide down the slope.

Shira screamed; she hated being out of control like this. It was quite well planned, she decided. Firstly, a small overhang on each side of the ice walls stopped the wood platform from toppling over, which Shira was grateful for. She wasn't keen on skidding down the slippery ice slope on her backside. There was also a vine on the back, which Shira could only hope was to stop her if anything happened. But somehow, that didn't seem to fit the ships policy.

A few seconds later, she was about 5 or 6 meters lower than before. The ice wall ended and Shira saw a small, skinny, jaguar, who was clearly enjoying the ride.

"This is the best part of being a captive in limbo!" she screamed! So this was her mystery friend? Hmm... Shira couldn't see how this was any good. "Enjoy it while it lasts, uh... whats ya name, eh?"

"My name's Shira, whats yours?"

"My name's Jaya. And, as ye probably guessed, i'm a jaguar. Well, you are a DUCK!"

"What? I-" Wham. Shira whacked her head on a chunk of ice. "Ow..." Her vision blurred for a moment.

"Don't say I didn't warn ya, kitty." Jaya smirked, and Shira snarled. "Ooh, fiesty! You'd better keep an eye on that one, if ya feel bad just tell me, hmm? I can get a stuff from above deck when I'm up there. Only captive who's actually allowed, I is... Well, as I was saying, you are a very strange saber-tooth, and I've seen a couple come on this boat. And none stay..."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll tell ya later. I see you've forgotten that you're virtually on a rollercoater"

"Eek! You had to remi-"

"Get ready for impact!" Jaya laughed.

"But there's noth- WOAH!" Shira screamed as the vine stopped unraveling, and sent her hurtling towards the wall.

"Shira, put your paws on the red circles!" Jaya shouted at the top of her voice.

Shira, petrified and vulnerable, did as she was told. Honestly, it couldnt go any worse, could it?

**How will it go? What will Shira and Jaya have to do? Find out in chapter 5! 2 reviews please until I'll upload! So tell your friends about this story :)**


	5. Skipping camp

Shira closed her eyes and put her paws out in-front of her, ready for impact, and she gasped as her paws hit not ice, but fast flowing seawater. Her claws hooked onto the ice surrounding the circles, and she quickly unattached them and jumped down off the wall.

She hit the ice floor hard, and heard Jaya call her. "Psst, over here! C'mon, unless ya wanna risk your life on your first day 'ere"

Shira was confused, and her vision was slightly blurry, but she figured that the Jaguar had managed to keep her safe for the time being. She decided to follow, mainly because, honestly, she wasn't worried what they did to her but was just lonely. The idea of wandering the ice ship alone didn't exactly appeal to the tiger.

She bounded across to where the small jaguar, who was in fact about half the size of the saber up close, was standing, waiting for her.

"Why do I have to come this way, Jaya?" she asked with a puzzled expression.

Jaya ignored her at first, and just walked off, Shira in tow. After about a minute, she stopped, considered their location for a moment and sighed, then turned to face the bigger feline. "Well, for a start, I see you didn't like the slope much. I doubt you'd be too pleased when you found another." Shira nodded. The ride was like hell to her.

Jaya, who had sat down, got up and hastily carried on moving. "Quick, keep up with me, or we're in big trouble."

"Oh, ok." The confused silver-saber agreed.

Still walking, Jaya continued in a whisper. "OK, so you'd want to miss the slide. I wouldn't, but ah well. Right, now here is the proper reason I told you to come this way. Honestly if you're scared it doesn't affect me. This is what I wanted to show you." Jaya led Shira to a great ice wall. Below was a room full of hurt, bleeding animals working.

"Its camp, although most just call it the hell-hole, thats where the traitors and the newbies end up. Its where they make new stuff for the ship, like the board you reside on and bowls you eat from. Only the weak ones make 'em though, and the stronger or more determined ones make stuff for the Cap'n and his close staff. There are only a few of the Captain's close staff though, and whenever he mentions 'the crew' or 'shipmates' they're who e's talking 'bout. To him, we're just the cargo. Even the animals making the captives work are cargo and abused like us, except not to the same extent.

At least 30% of the animals who go in there never come out. They're dinner for the crew, and of course, if we are carnivores, we get the scraps and a bone if your lucky. See, its waste not want not on this ship. Sometimes if the workers in there are just too weak to work, they get put out of their misery, but generally they die of exhaustion or even by accident.

Their pelts are kept in a cupboard and either made into a rug for the captain and his crew, or sometimes, mainly when there is something wrong with the fur, they try to bribe the rest of us, who have made it through camp, to work longer hours in exchange for a small piece of pelt. In the winter, this is especially popular, seeing as we are about 75 meters below sea-level-"

"75 meters below sea level?! We'll sink!" Shira exclaimed.

"Don't worry, there are hundreds of birds who are on hand incase the ship did start to sink, but it never has. Did you see the dorm room with loads of hay, and leaf walls? Thats where the birds live. There are literally 3 or 4 floors like that, so you can imagine how many birds there are. I mean, I've never counted, but they sometimes tie the birds onto the boat with vines and get them to practice the sinking drill, and you can barely see the sky just above. Seriously, this ship is well prepared. They also have a couple of sea creatures down the bottom who are there to fix the boat if she springs a leak. Its happened once before, and they got it sorted in a few seconds. Although that was practically just a crack. But still.. When its rough, they sometimes put the birds out too. Don't worry, we're going nowhere."

"Oh, thank goodness!" Shira exclaimed.

"As I was saying, it gets freezing at night in the winter, so most animals work extra shifts then. But if I where you, I'd do it sooner rather than later, because when its busy they give you less of a reward. Most newcomers don't know that we are so far down, you see, because they were unconscious for most of the journey down. Like you were, which is why you didn't see much."

"Oh... so, what happens to the animals in the hell-hole?"

"Well, once they get to leave, they need serious TLC to get back into working condition. Honestly, the only way to get back to full health once you've been in there is to rest. Which they take to full advantage. They give you some sort of berry, and it puts you into a sort of coma. It also makes you sleep constantly, and have nightmares, which is why they use the berry i'd say, it reminds the captives of when they were in the hell hole and that the pirates are the bosses around here. And even once you are out of the coma, the nightmares last. It takes about 3 months for them to stop once you're awake and back at work, but its enough to scar your sense of rebellion. You'd have gone down there if you had taken the slide, and if you hadnt moved quickly they'd have pushed you down anyway. As it is, they think you're already down there working."

Shira looked down below. Mammoths, apes, bears and more were holding whips, and were slashing weak animals who were obviously exhausted. The poor injured creatures were working super hard, tying branches to make a wood plank, curing animal hides and more.

Suddenly, a bird started to scream, and all the workers stopped what they were doing and stepped back. A herd of deer galloped into the room and headed towards a tapir, who looked embarrassed and worried.

The herd formed an arc around the tapir, and a large pronghorn walked from the middle. It raised its head to mark authority, then went to the tapir and asked in a commanding voice.

"Did you try to take that pelt?" he boomed.

The little tapir stumbled back in fear. "Y-y-yes..." it replied.

"Where is it now?"

"I d-d-dont know s-sir..."

"Open your mouth."

"B-but..."

"No buts, animal, open it!"

The tapir timidly opened its mouth where a small piece of pelt was lying. The pronghorn got it out with his horn.

"Never." he stepped closer to the tapir. "Steal. From. Your. Masters!" He bellowed, picked the Tapir up under his horn and threw it hard at the wall. "We are done. Continue" and the herd cantered out. The sound of a whiplash got business back to normal.

"Oh, and if you try to steal, you'll know it. That little buddy wont make it. Kingo, the pronghorn, is well known for his death-throws around here. Watch out for him." Jaya warned Shira, and turned tail and left. "Cmon, we've got work to get to if you want any dinner."

Shira looked down again in disgust. She was glad she had Jaya, that was for sure.

**Sorry I didn't post for ages, I hope this made up for it. 3 reviews for the next chapter!**


	6. Work and wellness

Shira panted as Jaya sped ahead of her. She was born on her previous ship, and had lived there her entire life. Helping out had gotten her quite strong, but the tigress had little speed or stamina. The furthest she'd ever run was when she was a cub, after she'd fallen overboard and drifted towards a small island. The boat came back for her, but she'd had to run to get back on.

"C'mon, slowcoach, hurry! We've been dawdling, the sun's nearly at northwest!" Jaya moaned.

"Sorry, I'm no good at running!" Shira yelled back.

"Oh, geez. Remember what the lion said? Learn!" The jaguar threw back, and instead of slowing down, sped up. "You'd better keep up, or you'll be soon lost!"

After quarter of an hour, Shira and Jaya stopped at a large wooden door. Shira wondered what was inside, when she heard the sound of a screaming animal. She looked at Jaya with a worried expression.

"Yeah, I know how it sounds. Just work hard and be good, and you'll be fine."

Shira swallowed, and pushed open the door. Inside was a small room, with tree trunks inside. To her surprise, animals were on top, running as the logs spun. As Shira looked closer, she saw fine holes in the ends of the trunks, and a bowl below.

"Its a hollowed out log, and its filled with food. You get on the trunk and run, and after a while, a piece of food will fall into your bowl. After three hours, you swap to the water trunks that leak water when you run. Its scarce, they make you run fast so very little water actually comes out. Its designed to make you work harder, for less. The harder you work, the better you eat. Except with the water one, but then if you get slow you get whipped. Its a matter of fitness. So you'd better get used to running. C'mon, there are two spare trunks, its time to get to work. I'm starved."

The jaguar bounded over to the tree trunk and stepped towards a vine. "Shira, if you bite onto the vine, it'll stop you falling off if you were to slip. Handy for beginners like you. Just make sure, if you feel like you're slipping, you grab it tight." After her little speech, she grabbed the vine in her mouth, leaped upon the log and started to jog. She moved the vine to the side of her mouth, and looked at Shira again. "If the whippers aren't looking slow down a bit. Best to get a rest if you can, or you wont be able to survive the trip back. Now, get on!"

Shira walked cautiously towards her vine and picked it up in her mouth. She carefully climbed up onto her log, and took a step, which made her trip. She could feel the immense pull on her jaws as she held her weight, trying to get back onto the log.

"Get back on, you worthless kitty-cat. This boats gotta move, so get running and turning those pedals!" A large bear shouted, and whipped her. "Hurry up!" Shira whined and got back on, and started to walk. The bear, frustrated now, whipped her again. "Come on, lazy bones! Get movin'!"

"Oi, Yoto, give her a break. She's just got outta camp and has never been on motor duty before. She's still learning!" The jaguar shouted, whilst running flat out.

"I don't care if she's just swam to shore and back, she's going to move those stubby legs of hers!" The bear shouted back, and whipped Shira again. The poor saber, who was just about getting the hang of running on the trunks, yelped and moaned, put hung her head to hide the tears that threatened to form. She moved faster, slipping and tripping lots, trying to please the bear.

"And you, little miss pussy, lay off the attitude and stop answering back. Focus on ya own life, eh? Its every man for himself down here, so stop worrying about little wimpy over there." The bear snarled and lashed Jaya with the whip. She screamed in pain and ran faster, eyes wide fear.

"Don't send the h-herd in, p-please!" The jaguar whimpered. "Have mercy, have mercy!" She cried, terror evident in her eyes. The bear laughed.

"The herd's only in camp, pussy. Get back to reality!" He slapped her cheek, and she yelped again.

"Jaya, grab... the vine! You might... fall!" Shira yelled between breaths. Finally, she'd gotten running full speed, although she was absolutely shattered and gasping for air.

"N'no! I've got to k'keep working! I must be good or they'll send the herd in!" the jaguar cried.

"Jaya, the bear... said that the... herd only come... in the ca-"

"Hey, theres... no point reminding her. She's gone... into a trance. She thinks she's... still in camp. We all get... them. Hours where you feel like you are... still in camp. She'll get over it. Dont... worry." Shira looked around to see a beaten-up kangaroo hopping on her branch. "I'm like her. They cant... decide what to do with us... so we are in limbo at... the moment. I've... been in limbo longer... I've gotten over the... camp experience. It took me... about 4 years... She's only been here for 3 years."

Shira, panting already, couldn't help but admire the kangaroo. Clearly, she'd been here for a long time, and that meant a lot of starvation and hard work. Shira tripped, and regained her balance before turning back to the kangaroo.

"Why are you two in limbo?" She asked curiously.

"Well, us two are the real... puzzle captives. They know both of us... have potent-"

"No!" Jaya cried. "Don't call Kingo, please! I'm begg-"

"Shut it, feline!" A heavy-browed mammoth ordered, and slapped her with the whip. "Snap out of it!"

Shira looked at her friend, who was crying and sobbing, whining and moaning, and pleading to be pardoned from an imaginary fate. "Are you sure we... cant do anything?" The tired feline begged her bouncing friend.

"No, I'm sorry. By the way, you might want to hold that vine tightly. At break i'll wrap it around your tail, OK? You're slipping left, right and everywhere. Take care."

"Thanks..." Shira said, and clamped her teeth on the vine, and just in time, because a surprise whack on her backside made her fall and she dangled in the air.

"Come on, tiger, get back on your log before they whip you even more. Quick!" The kangaroo whispered urgently. Shira, deciding it would be best to listen, forced herself down onto the log and began to run again.

"As I was saying, the... crew know we both have great... potential. However, we are both... rebellious. They want shipmates with... potential, and strong willpower, but they don't want... traitors. Hence why we are down here still. I can see potential... in you, and good willpower, and even a hint of rebellion... Be careful how you act, ok?"

"Yes, thanks. Uhm, whats your name?"

"My name is Ama, whats yours?"

"My name's Shira."

"Nice to meet you... I caught a glimpse of you... before I went to work earlier, from across... the cage room. They turn the... lights on for a couple of hours or so below... deck, and at night so they can... punish us if we start rebelling easily, but... you were out of it when they... turned them on. I'll look out... for you tonight, and we can... chat. Before bed. Thats when they let us... out of our cages. There isn't so much... room, but everyone deals stuff at night. Perhaps... a blanket for food, or something like that. Some animals even trade their cage. Food... or water, perhaps, is like a currency to us, if... you want something, offer food... and you'll get it. It's too busy for... me though, and too hot. I stick to... what I earn and go outside for the whole... time. See, we've got this one nice detail on... the bottom deck. Its like... a viewpoint underwater. The ice is... crystal clear so you can... go and watch the... fish. And its so cool because you are right next... to ice cold water. I actually... love it there... Its so nice."

"Wow, I didn't know the crew were... nice enough... to give us something... nice." Shira said, tripping like mad with deathly painful legs.

"They aren't. Us captives... made it one day... because we thought it would be nice to see something beautiful... below deck." Ama explained.

Once again, Shira tripped up and dangled in the air.

Whack.

"Get down from there, pussy cat!"

"Eek! Sorry.." The worn out saber replied, and got back onto her tree trunk.

"Ugh." The bear said and walked off again.

"Unlucky. You're... gonna have to practice that... I reckon." Ama said.

"Yeah..." Shira told her new friend. "Woah, dizzy moment." Shira laughed between precious breaths.

Suddenly, her face went straight. Another dizzy spell. This wasn't right... Quickly, Shira threw the rope to Ama and shouted "Tie it to my tail, now!" in desperation. Ama could tell something wasn't right, and did as the female saber requested, tripping herself, thankful for the vine around her belly.

The saber gasped. The whole world was spinning; she knew she couldn't run properly like this, yet she carried on, occasionally putting her paw too far forward and moving Jaya's log too, making her trip.

"Shira! Come back to me! Wake up!" She heard Jaya shouting.

"Jaya... I'm so dizzy..."

"Oh, god! You whacked your head, on the ice!"

"Ugh..." Shira moaned, then collapsed, hanging by her tail in the air, paws scuffing the still spinning wooden log.

"Shira! Come on, snap out of it!" Jaya cried.

"Wake up kitty, come on, quick!" Ama shouted.

Shira only opened her eyes and blinked, then fainted. The vine lowered at the added weight, and her body hit the spinning wooden log, hitting her body as the tree trunk carried on spinning.

**Hope you enjoyed it! Please review! Your comments help me to be inspired for this story!**

**So, Shira has experienced work and found a new friend... but how will she fare? Find out in the next one!**


	7. Cozy Catchup

Shira started to stir. Her belly was growling and her throat was dry. Her head ached and her front legs felt like they'd been whipped hundreds of times. She opened her heavy eyes and found herself back in her cage. The smell of odd food scraps and the bowl of lightly salty water tempted her, and the wooden grate separating her from it was like a bully, teasing her senses.

She stretched her right leg, but winced in pain as her paw touched the floor. Upon inspection, she realized that her leg had been badly hurt, the fur was gone around the tops and large, red and angry skin took its place. Blood also trickled down her leg where splinters had clearly been roughly pulled out. A thin wooden branch had been tied to the left leg, and Shira assumed this was to stop it bending. A broken bone, perhaps?

She heard a yelp and a thud below her, and realized her best friend, Jaya, was back from work. The jaguar took in long gulps of air, and panted. She slumped to the floor and Shira could hear the sound of a bone being chomped hungrily. Above her, she heard the deer wake up, and begin to thrash around in terror. Shira's pounding head could do with a little peace, she decided.

"Hey, shut it! My head kills!" she shouted up.

Jaya looked up happily. "Shira, your awake!"

"Yeah, but i'll be dead of a pounding head if this one above me doesn't shut it and settle down."

"Oi, you up there, shut up and calm down! The tigress below you has a headache and I'm sure we can arrange for a death sentence if you don't quiet down. We don't get fed much, so I'm sure none of us would mind for an extra tit-bit, would we?" Jaya cried up to the petrified deer.

"No!" The meat-eaters shouted in unison.

"Okay, okay, you've got your point across. But I want to know why I'm here! I should be on my ship, I-" the deer exclaimed.

"Look, mate, I arrived today too and I've already been badly hurt, so don't annoy me or I'll snap. You are on a pirate ship, and you are captive. You live on this board, you work six-hours a day-"

"Psst, Shira, we actually work 12 hours a day." Jaya whispered.

"Oh, great, so, you live on this board, you work 12 grueling hours a day, you get beaten up, and abused, and starved. Its a nice life, it seems." Shira explained with annoyance.

"Hmm, I don't understand..." the deer said, with a confused voice.

"Right, look at it this way: you have been abducted and taken prisoner. They make you work 12 hours a day, and the harder you work the more you get to eat and drink. Its simple. Oh, and we are 75 meters below sea level."

"What?! We'll freeze to death!" The deer cried out.

"Work extra shifts then. They might just reward you with a pelt."

"I'm not going to wear another animal's pelt, i'd feel like a carnivore!" The deer shrieked.

"Sucks to be you." Shira said simply, and poked the animal through the bars. "Now be quiet. Once it comes to wintertime, you'll probably change your mind. Now, get to sleep or just be quiet, my head is honestly killing me down here!"

Jaya laughed, and Shira looked down at her weak friend. She sure had courage, that was certain. She smiled, and asked her, "When do we get food?"

The jaguar smiled and replied, "About now. While the other animals are working, we'll get food. Tomorrow, we'll swap shifts and they'll eat first."

Above her, Shira could hear the wooden grate rising, and the deer panic as the collar was fitted. The saber felt sad for the poor, scared and confused creature, so she whispered up to him. "Just do what they say. Put your hooves through the red rings and go around the outside or you'll be in training camp and probably die. Be car-" Her whispers were cut short as a pointed stick was stuck through the back of the grate, and poked her, which made her yelp in pain.

However, the deer heard her, and smiled through the bars sadly. "Thank you." it whispered, before being yanked out of the cage.

Shira glanced down at Jaya. "Thank you, Jaya, for everything. You've probably saved my life."

Jaya smiled, and held up the bone through the bars. "Here, have a chew. Sure, I helped you, but you helped me more than you could imagine. Seeing you hurt snapped me out of 'camp-mode' and back to reality. It also bought me a few minutes of pure air. Honestly, you've been a massive help to me, and although i did save your life, I wont deny it, I still feel I owe you. So, why don't we try to get over the past... uh... day... and call it evens. Sound good?"

'Sure." Shira agreed, grinning ear to ear although her eyes were still glazed with pain.

"Hey, kitty, have a drink and a bite to eat, hopefully it'll help with the pain. OK?"

"Sure, Jaya... thanks." shira replied. She lay down (to the best of her abilities in the cramped cage) and began to chew the bone. It smelt old, but the saber was so hungry, she didn't really care. She realized that giving her the bone was, onboard this ship, like giving up a large mammoth kill. Of course, she had never hunted anything personally, growing up on a floating iceberg and all, but her father had told her catching the woolly beast was virtually impossible, unless caught by surprise.

Shira, who was contentedly chewing the bone, heard a small creaking noise, and the sound of wood rubbing against ice. Worriedly, she dropped the bone through the bars and thought to herself, "Oh, jeez, I've been caught! Jaya only gave me the bone so that I'd be blamed..."

"Hey, Shira, settle down. Settle down, I said! Its only the grate rising!" Jaya shouted up.

Shira looked at the grate in astonishment and realized it was, in fact, moving. "Why are they pulling the grate up, Jaya?" She asked puzzled.

"Its meal time, stupid! Although, you're gonna have to wait a little while, they don't exactly hurry when its time to eat, and you're the last animal here at the moment. Oh, and there are about 20 animals below us... so you probably won't get to eat for another ten minutes or so anyway."

"Aww, I'm starving!" Shira cried out. "And my throat is drier than that bone!"

"You'll get used to it, Kitty, don't worry."

"Hey, stop calling me kitty, yeah?"

"Nah, it suits you, Kitty."

"Grrr..." Shira replied in annoyance.

"Okay, okay!" Jaya laughed, "But now i've gotta find a new nickname for ya, eh?"

"Ugh, as long as it isn't "Twinkletoes' or anything." Shira snapped.

"Keep ya fur on, tiger!" Jaya replied cheekily.

"You know, you're just asking for trouble!"

"Yep!" Jaya laughed, and rolled over onto her back. "Hey, its nearly winter. I mean, c'mon, its freezing at night as it is! I've learnt a few things onboard this ship, and one is that food helps me to stay warm. After dinner, if your head isn't hurting still, we can go down and offer to do some extra work, and hopefully we'll get some extra food. Oh, and I'll show you how to make a storage hole in the wall. I keep spare food in it for the winter, and its also where I keep any bones I get. I know bones aren't usually a cat's food... but they are strangely satisfying, especially after a long days work. They are really nutritious, its where I get most of my energy from."

"Yeah, I agree, bones are really quite tasty!" Shira agreed, and her mouth watered for more of the bone.

"Hey, tiger, can I tie my bone onto your board? Only, I have a piece of vine and I cant think of anything to use it for. We can do it so we can both share it, if you'd like?"

The thought of free food sounded like heaven to Shira, and she wholeheartedly agreed. After a few minutes, they managed to make a knot, and both cats were pleased.

"Hey, tiger, the grate's almost risen down here, you'll be eating in a minute, don't worry. Here, chew the bone while you're waiting though, or I'd feel bad to be eating without you."

"Aww, thanks Jaya." Shira replied, and began to chew on the bone.

About a minute later, Shira's grate had fully risen. She dropped the bone down to Jaya again. Below her, she could hear Jaya licking every last drop of water up, and licking her lips to get rid of any small morsels.

"Hey, Jaya, do you still want the scraps?" Shira asked.

"Naw, you didn't know what it was like when you agreed to that. You eat it, I have my winter stores if I'm gonna starve." Jaya laughed, sadly.

"Thanks Jaya. You've been such a great help." Shira told the jaguar once again, and went to her bowl. Really, the rations were pathetic. Jaya could tell Shira was thinking that she'd barely been given any.

"Hey, tiger, you'll get less than that tomorrow. They give you a tiny bit extra the first day here. No idea why... Anyway, I bought up your food that you earned earlier. Of course, you didn't get round to getting any water, so me and Ama split ours for you."

"Ah, you shouldn't have..."

"Well, we did, so just drink up and eat the meal. You'll be glad you do." Jaya told her.

Quickly, Shira inspected the two bowls. In the first, was some slightly salty water, and in the second, were some small, dry scraps of meat were laying. Shira hungrily scoffed up the scraps in a few seconds, and drank down the water thirstily. Thankfully, it was not too salty, or else Shira knew that she'd have been only more thirsty.

"Hey, tiger, you finished?"

"Yeah, why, Jaya?"

"Why don't we go do some extra shifts and get some spare food for winter, yeah?"

"Aww, do we have to?" Shira asked sadly.

"Yes!" Jaya responded.

"Ohh..." The downhearted saber replied. "I don't like work..."

"Hey, doing extra shifts aint as bad as the mandatory work. There is a special room for extra-hours, and you just work for as long and as hard as you want. The Machi, which is the name they give the ones who whip us when we slack off in work, sit behind a transparent ice wall and watch how hard we work. When we are done, we report to them and they will give us these small, wooden, circle things, which they call 'coins'. We can then either save them or go to the ship store, where they sell a few things we might want. Of course, the better the item, the more coins it costs. At this time of year, I choose food. If we get a pelt now, it'll just be hard by wintertime and a waste of our coins. Of course, the food dries up too but its still edible. Honestly, I like it hard; its more chewy and makes me feel more full. It also makes a great remedy for boredom." Jaya laughed. "C'mon, the further away from winter it is, the more generous they are. I mean, geez, in the winter they give us about half the coins and the items in the shop get smaller in size, yet stay the same price. We can afford to wait for the pelts though, because its better to have a small, soft pelt than a large, hard one."

"I guess... okay, lets get it over and done with."

**Sorry there was so much talking in this one, I hope you enjoyed it anyway! :)**


	8. A note

_**I haven't posted for ages, I know, I need inspiration. I'll try to get back to work asap and make chapters extra long!**_

_**Sorry, **_

_**Aeluna**_


	9. Bonds and Barriers

"Right, Shira, if you push against the ice to the right of you, you should fall into a chute which leads to the main corridor!" The jaguar yelled up. "Got it?"

"Not if it means a steep slope into the ice!" Shira shouted back down.

"Don't worry, it's virtually flat! Honest!" Jaya called up. "You can literally walk down it!"

"Why should I believe you?"

"Well, you don't have much choice. Besides, what sort of friend would I be if I lied, hmm?"

"I guess... if you're pulling my tail, I won't be buying any pelts from the shop because I'll have yours already!"

"Jeez, calm down, tigress!" Jaya called up.

"Humph." Shira snorted, and began to push against the ice wall, which slightly moved.

"Ha, gullible cub!" Jaya thought to herself. "Put some effort into it, kitty!"

"What'd I say about calling me kitty?!" The angered saber snarled.

"Hmm, I'll remember later!" The jaguar teased. "See you at the bottom!" She told the tiger, and stepped out of the cage. With a few more hard pushes, the ice shifted for Shira, too, and the tiger stepped into the tunnel. "Eek!" she screamed, as the ice closed behind her and it went pitch black.

Carefully, the tigress walked through the dark tunnel. After a minute or two, her foot touched down on something slippery, and she skidded to the floor, spinning on her stomach until suddenly, she felt the ice beneath her get thin, and and begin to break. She knew there was no way to get out of this one, unless...

Up above her, she saw a faint light. As the ice cracked more, she strained her eyes and saw a platform, to her relief. When she felt the ice crumble away beneath her forepaws, she decided there was nothing for it, and jumped, trying to reach the ledge which hung an impossible distance away. To her surprise, however, she managed to hook her claws over the top, and, with a lot of effort, managed to clamber up. Relieved, she walked on, when, suddenly, she felt herself falling and realized, the ledge was just a teaser. She hit the sloping ice hard, and skidded down the slope, eyes shut tight and wishing she was anywhere but here.

In a few seconds, she felt herself slow down, and realized she was skidding across flat ice. She slammed into the ice wall at the end, yelped in pain, then slipped out of the tunnel, and onto the floor of yet another ice-ship corridor.

Shira looked around, and saw the small jaguar whom she had been stupid enough to believe earlier about it being flat. When the small feline caught up with her, she snarled in fury at her supposed friend, for lying to her. Jaya jumped, mildly surprised, but regained herself and looked at the tigress, confidence and triumph blazing in her eyes.

"You lied, Jaya!" Shira growled, and began to circle the cat.

"No, I didn't. Its opposite day, today!" She retorted, grinning cheekily.

"Wait, if its opposite day, then you just lied because... because you said it is opposite day... and that means its not... but then if it were normal it would be..."

"Oh, jeez, shut up and follow me. You can think about that while you work, keep yourself busy. Hmm?"

"Ugh, great."

The spotted feline then bounded away, followed by the tigress, although not too closely. Shira still hadn't got much speed, which annoyed her highly.

After a few minutes, Jaya stopped at a small, roughly cut wooden door and gently pushed it open. "C'mon, Ama is meeting us inside. We're all going to sign up for the same job."

Shira followed as Jaya walked softly into the room, puzzled. "Why do we have to sign up?"

"Well, Shira, we sign up yo whatever job we want. They give us a variety, but the easier the work, the less the pay. Usually, me and Ama choose the hard work, because then we can get away with not doing so many extra shifts. We've agreed however, that we would lay off and go for something a bit easier today, just because its your first time."

Shira nodded in understanding, and moaned as her stomach growled.

"Jaya, how come you have so much energy on so little food?" She asked inquisitively.

"It depends on what snacks you have. I always get the food that has the most energy, but rest assured, i wont keep it a secret. Don't worry, you'll get used to it. You eventually go past the point of hunger, and the bones i have often make me more hyper than anything. Then, I guess the hyper-ness contrasts with hunger, and i'm... neutral. Well, maybe a bit cuckoo..." The jaguar reasoned, and padded softly forward. Shira considered her opinion, agreed on the cuckoo part, and hastily followed, trying hard to ignore the rumblings and growling that were coming from her empty stomach.

As the duo entered the room, they saw the kangaroo waiting for them at a sort of ice-table.

"Hey, you two! Ya ready ta get those paws a-burning?" She screamed wildly.

"What the-" Shira started.

"Dont'cha worry, tiger, before signing up Ama gets nervous, and when she's nervous she gets just a tad... hyped up, shall we say?" Jaya explained. "Ama, calm down!" She screamed at the kangaroo, and quickly bounded over to her, where slapped her with a small paw. "C'mon, or we'll be here 'til the full moon!"

The kangaroo whined at her stinging side where the cat had hit her, claws slightly extended. "Sorry Jaya, I'll try not to do it again." she said, hanging her head.

Shira looked at her two friends in surprise. Ama had always been jolly, or at least she imagined, and Jaya was always kind and would never tolerate abuse. What was this all about? Could she really trust the two animals before her.

Jaya looked around, and saw Shira's confused, and slightly fearful face. She sighed, and walked over to her, but the saber just backed away, growling. Now it was the jaguar's turn to be shocked, and she cocked her head inquisitively. "Shira, I won't hurt you." she told the saber calmly, even though she knew the tigress was much more powerful than her, even starving as she was. In fact, she reasoned, a hungry cat was probably more of a threat than a full one.

Shira looked at the jaguar, and gave in. After all, she was stronger than the spotted cat anyway, what damage could she really do? She shrugged her shoulders, shook her head and trotted around Jaya, to Ama, and followed the kangaroo to the sign-up station.

Jaya just stood there, downhearted. She knew the saber-tooth didn't know how dangerous Ama could get when she was hyper, and how could she explain to her that the only way to get her out of the trance was to shock her? Jaya knew Ama would be better... but would Shira forgive her? She sighed, and followed the other two.

When Jaya caught her up, Shira instinctively let out a low growl, and purposely moved closer to Ama. Jaya, deciding it would be best to let the bigger feline let off her steam slowly, wandered over to the opposite side of the ice table and began to sign herself in, and didn't realize that by leaving herself out of everything, was beginning to create a barrier between her and Shira.

**Finally! I'm super sorry this chapter has taken so long, I've had no inspiration until recently.**

**Anyway, back to the story...**

**So, Shira thinks Jaya is cold-hearted, and Jaya doesn't know what to do! How big will the 'wall' be before Jaya and Shira realize that their bond was slowly diminishing...**

**Wow, its only been a day on the ship! :P**


	10. Risks aren't worth taking

**Thank you for all being so patient with me! :) **

Shira looked at Ama, who seemed back to normal, and cocked her head in confusion. Hadn't Jaya just hurt her, a minute ago? The saber walked over to Ama, and asked, puzzled, "How come you are fine now? I thought Jaya hurt you..."

"Its because I get hyper, when I'm nervous, I'm dangerous. Jaya was only doing me a favor."

To Shira, it looked more harsh than a simple "favor". "Hmm..." She replied. Ama could sense Shira didn't fully believe her, and worried that, after just one day, she had began to loose her new found friendship with the jaguar.

"Ama, how do I 'sign in'" Shira asked, not knowing how the ship worked, and all. Ama sighed in frustration that Shira was unforgiving towards her feline friend, and snapped,

"Just watch me, OK!"

Shira was taken aback, and, sadly, watched the kangaroo dip her tail into a hole in the ice, and then draw a small, red kangaroo. The tigress presumed this was meant to be Ama, as she was red, and began to draw herself. She halted, however, when the kangaroo began to draw a symbol to the side of it.

"Ama, what's that symbol?" Shira asked, timidly, scared of her friend's outburst.

"Its my logo."

"I don't have a logo..."

"Yes you do, look at your side. There is a mirror over there," she pointed towards an especially reflective piece of ice, "That you can look in. I never realized you didn't know." With that, she turned tail, and jumped out.

Sad, once again, Shira trotted over to the mirror and looked at her logo. It was painted in white, and was hard to determine against the tigress' light grey fur. She studied it carefully, and eventually realized it was the shape of a circle, with a line through the middle.

She turned tail, and saw Jaya at her place. "What are you doing!" she shouted. Jaya turned to look at her so-called 'friend', and sighed. "I'm signing you in, seeing as you've never done this before. Believe it or not, I don't want to loose you as a friend. Besides, you need someone to show you where to go."

Shira looked into Jaya's eyes, and saw hurt, and regret, but pushed these things aside, ignored the pang of sorrow that coursed through her body. "Thank you, but I think you've done enough." She spat, in disgust. With that, she span around, and left, shoving into Jaya as she went.

Jaya's eyes followed Shira as she took the left exit which Ama had taken. Jaya rolled her eyes, and said, "Shira, that's the way to the head of department's cabin. Not the work area."

"Head of department? Whats th-" Shira began, before remembering that she was annoyed at Jaya. She spat on the floor, and snarled. "How do you know I wasn't going to see him?!"

she retorted.

"Because you aren't allowed in without permission, and you haven't a reason. I've been near you all the time."

Shira growled, spun around, and stood there. Jaya approached, cautiously, and stepped next to Shira. "Shira why are you so... against me?" She asked, slightly nervously.

"You attacked Ama, you traitor! Don't give me any of that 'dangerous' stuff, either!" She shouted, and Jaya could swear she felt the room shake.

"Shira, please..." She pleaded. Shira scoffed, and looked at her, furious. "I've got my pride, to think about. I'm not going to let it be stolen by some... kitten!" She growled, and kicked Jaya on the right shoulder. The jaguar yelped in pain, and Shira instinctively looked back with regret in her eyes, but when she saw that the smaller cat was fine, she huffed and walked with grace and power out of the room.

Jaya gasped at Shira:- how could she be so... snobbish? She sighed, and put her paw down lightly on the ground, in horrible pain. She began to move her left leg, but gasped and collapsed. She felt warmth on her leg, and looked at the gash which was gaping wide, caught by Shira's claw, blood spilling like water over a waterfall. In desperation, she screamed, but she knew that unless help came soon, she'd be completely immobile. She gasped in realization that she would, quite likely, bleed to death.

She lay there, feeling the blood pour from her cut, down her leg, and tried to dampen it with her paw, but it didn't work. She tried licking it, which slowed the flow a little, and was relieved to see a piece of animal fur, caught on a protruding icicle. Dangerously using up her strength, she hopped over and reached for it then pressed it to the gash. Thankfully, it stopped the flow of blood, but she could see it begin to turn the fur red. She lay down, weak, and defeated. Unable to make a sound, pleads of help beyond her, she accepted her fate, and curled up into a ball, lapping up some water off the floor. She decided, a painful death would only be made worse by dehydration.

Shira walked down the path, when she heard a blood-curdling howl. The hairs on her neck stood up on end, and she snarled, but realized the threat was behind her. She continued on, when she was stopped by a lion. She realized it was the one who had told them earlier to get to work, and snapped, "What do you want?!"

Instantly, Shira realized this was a bad idea, and the lion grabbed her throat, and she gasped as he reduced her ability to breath.

"You hurt the Jaguar! Despite being rebellious, that one is a hard worker and I do NOT want to loose her! Her life is in the balance, because of you!"

"What do you mean?!" Shira snapped, and, hoping to calm him a little, added, bitterly, "Sir."

"I wan't you to make it right! You've done enough damage, it's time you did something useful on this ship!" He snarled, bit her, and dragged her away. The tigress knew that the lion could overpower her any day, and thus obliged.

Jaya began to wake, her leg throbbing, but her first emotion was, in truth, suprise. She hadn't expected to be alive, still. Then she realized, she was in the medical ward, next to the captain's cabin. She looked at her leg, which was tied onto a stick and submerged in water, but the cold didn't register at all. In fact, she couldn't feel her leg whatsoever. A wolf walked in, checked her temperature, and explained, "We've numbed your leg. You won't feel the pain until its healed. She sighed, lay her head down once again, and closed her eyes, preparing to sleep it off. Just as she began to drift, she heard a panicked cry, "No, no no!" coming from the next room, and recognized it instantly as Shira. Without meaning to, a grin spread across her mouth, but disappeared when she heard the grunts through the ice, the scream of pain, the pleasure contrasting with horror, and, finally, the thud and yelp which could only be the result of one animal, falling on the other. Before fainting, she heard the sigh, and the moan of pain.

**Oh no! Shira still won't make up with Jaya, who is currently in hospital, in and out of consciousness. Also, what has the lion done to Shira? And how will Ama react to her best friends quarrels? Find out in the next one:- 3 comments before I post!**


	11. Hard Truth

Shira slowly, and painfully, walked out of the cave lion's ice-room, aching all over. Every step she took was like agony, and she could still feel the larger cat's intimidating body looming over her. She sighed, hung her head and walked along the icy corridor, carelessly slipping every few steps. When Shira passed the hospital ward, she looked through the thin ice 'window' and could see Jaya lying on a large coconut tree leaf. She saw the red seeping through a fur bandage, and could see the stick that was holding her leg straight. She gasped, realising what an idiot she had been:- she nearly killed her friend. She began walking away, hoping to get away from the truth, when she heard someone shout her name. "Shira! Get here!" The cold name, she realised came from the mouth of her hopping, cheerful friend, Ama, "Come here, and help us get Jaya to her cage. You've done this damage, the least you can do is try to make it better."

Shira sighed in regret, and walked towards the open door. She saw young animals in the hospital, too, and sighed in sadness; these animals had done nothing to deserve this. Suddenly, a shock hit her, and she tried hard to hold back a scream.

She felt tears leak from her eyes, and Ama, despite her anger, comforted her. "I'm sorry for shouting, Shira... I was just angry, me and Jaya have always been together. Don't cry." She clearly thought she'd hurt the saber-tooth tiger. Shira nodded, deciding awkward questions were not exactly preferred now.

Ama helped to move Jaya's unconscious body onto a sled-like contraption, and put the harness over shira's back. The tigress' stomach growled in hunger and gurgled in an unpleasant way, and she couldn't help but feel the butterflies which fluttered in her stomach. She heard a whip crack, and felt the impact, and jumped into action, starting to haul the sled at full speed. Obviously, the crew had other ideas, and placed a boulder on the back. The saber was pulled back and began choking for air as she dug her claws into the floor, trying to move the heavy contraption combined with the weight. Ama helped her, pushing her out of the hospital ward and into the corridor, where she joined her by the side. "Don't worry, there is a slight slope her, it'll make it easier."

For what seemed like hours, Shira hauled the sled through the corridors, uttering no words, careful to put all her energy into moving her friend. By the time she reached a swirling slope, her vision was blurred and her eyes threatened to shut. Her legs shook violently and her heart was beating faster than it ever had before. The stitch was agonising, and the uncomfortable feeling in her groin had only gotten worse.

She moaned, and Ama was at her side, stroking her head. Shira felt like a cub, but neither had the energy to resist, or the will power.

"Don't worry, there is a vine up there that I can attach to the sled and we can both get the sled up. I'll show you how.

Shira's blurred vision could just make out a vine, which Ama tied onto the sled, after tightening Jaya's unconscious body to the boards, and then she led Shira towards two harnesses.

"They attach onto your back, like the last one, and you must walk forward. It will pull the sled up. It's just easier than keeping your grip on an ice slope as well as keeping the sled from dragging you down. Now, when you reach the opposite wall, you have to get the vine around the hook and then walk towards the first wall. It's simple, but hard."

Shira sighed, yet again. Jut what her broken body needed, more treacherous work. She should've just listened to Jaya; she could tell, now that she wasn't lying.

Te duo attached their harnesses and began to heave Jaya up the slope. Every step Shira took was hell, her shaking body threatened to collapse at any moment. Now, she realised, she literally was running on empty.

By the time they had finished moving Jaya, Shira could swear her heart was about to burst. She sobbed silently, and her and Ama walked in silence to the cages. When they reached Shira's cage, Ama informed her that she had traded cages with the deer above earlier, so she would be just 'upstairs' if Shira needed her. The saber pulled up the grate to her cage, hopped in just before it shut and curled into a ball. She succumbed to the tears that had been destined to fall eventually.

"What's wrong, Shira?" Ama asked, worried.

"I... Oh, Ama... I think... I'm pregnant..."

**Thanks for reading! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review! It's part of the reason I wrote these things! I wont update until I get 3 reviews. No jokes. And as soon as I get 3 reviews i'll update it! I have the next chapter ready and waiting for you guys! So hurry up and review! I'd love it if you'd follow the story, too! :)**


	12. The Understanding

Ama sat up suddenly, gave a quick yelp as her head hit the cage above her, then looked back down.

"Are-are you sure?" She asked, worriedly. Shira could tell that ama knew something she didn't, and it made her nervous. She replied, "I think so," took a breath and carried on. "I mean, I've never been p-pregnant before... But something seems different... Much different... I keep getting this fluttering feeling in my stomach, but that's not all..."

Ama could have cried for her friend, but stayed as calm as she could, for Shira's sake.

"Yes, Shira, yes... You are going to have cubs. I'm so sorry..."

"Wait- aren't cubs good? Won't I get out of work and stuff because of it?"

"Sure," Ama said in a mocking voice, "Except you've seen yourself what this ships like, even in the day you've been here, and can you really see them letting you off lightly? You can take days off work if you want, they won't stop you... but you won't get fed. So really, you'll probably give birth in the work-room, most likely."

Shira gasped, horrified. She could imagine running on the spin wheel, belly flapping hopelessly from side-to-side, when her waters broke. She sighed, and decided she had better get some meat from the shop in preparation.

"In four months time, you'll be having your babies... But I don't know how many will make it. Ligers are well know for being a bad hybridisation, and often are still born or malformed. You'll probably have 6 cubs... But you'll be lucky if, well, honestly, they'll all be stillborn."

Shira was outraged. How dare Ama say that it would be best if her cubs were dead?! She wacked the board above her with all her might, and growled at Ama. "What do you mean, it would be best if they were dead?!" She barked up, threateningly.

"Don't take it the wrong way, tigress, but it is best. They'll be taken from you, live or dead, and either go to the pup camp or the captain's dinner plate. It's one or other, but at least they won't be conscious on the meal table. Pup camp is virtually newbie camp, except they are 'breaking in' the poor, poor creatures."

Shira screamed, an began to cry heavily. She couldn't stand the idea of loosing her pups... Her pups... Suddenly, she stopped crying and force herself to be brave. "These aren't my pups!" She thought, defiantly, "these are this ships creation! They aren't mine! " But however hard she tried, she knew she would live them all; instinct was more overpowering than sense.

"Ama... If- If they do die... Then, I'm going to eat them." Shira gasped at how bad the words sounded. "And I'll split it with Jaya... I know that sounds bad, but... I won't let the captain touch them. I'd rather they were, put to good use. I mean, they AREN'T mine! They are the ships creation!" She finished her little speech, shouting. Despite the fact that she knew she would love them, she tried her best to hide it.

Ama nodded, even though Shira couldn't see her.

"I understand Shira, and don't worry. No one will judge you on this ship. For a start, you wouldn't be the worst. We once had a cave leopard once, and she had 7 cubs. They were all health and strong... But then she killed them and ate them, slowly, storing them in a hole in the wall like Jaya does, in tiny little bits. Except jaya has never had cubs. "

Shira sat there, pondering the information, when suddenly a thought occurred to her. How did Ama know so much?

"Ama, how do you know all this? About pup camp and stuff?" Shira said, inquisitively. The butterflies came back as if to ask as well.

"I... I was a mother once..." Ama said, and Shira felt sure that Ama sounded ashamed. "I failed her. As do all mothers on this ship. I let them take her away, they chained me down, and there was nothing, nothing, I could do. She was screaming as they took her away, I couldn't help it. I should have stuffed her in the hole in my wall, then let her go when we reached the island. But I didn't! And then one day I saw her, bleeding, thin and half-dead across the room from me, in your cage in fact. She looked at me, as if to say "Why did you not kill me?" Then curled into a ball. Nothing anyone could do would get her up. Within a day, she had starved."

Shira's eyes filled with tears, once again, and she let out a low sob, as did Ama. The kangaroo was so strong, but Shira had just presumed that she had never let anything get to her. How could she have been so wrong?

The tear landed on Jaya's nose, and she suddenly jerked awake. She heard the sound of the two creatures above, and decided, that to lay quiet would be easier than disturbing them.

"So, Ama..." Shira got out between tears, "Is there... Is there anything I can do for my pups?"

Jaya's ears perked up. SHIRA'S pups? Oh no, oh no! She sighed quietly, and carried on listening.

"No, Shira... I'm sorry. They will either be stillborn, and be dinner for you, or be fine and taken from you. Or they could be malformed. They let you keep them."

Shira cried, and replied devastated, "So... How come they don't check if you are hiding your pups?"

Ama shuddered. "There is a Pup bin. All dead babies are supposed to be put in there, but generally only the vegetarians do so. Like you the meat-eaters eat the dead ones. Oh, the pup bin is horrible. There are always tons of pups in it... This floor isn't the only captives floor, you know, there is a couple of floors below us, too. For the bigger animals, mainly, like mammoths, deer... you get the idea."

"This ship just gets worse and worse..."

"Right, I know you are tired Shira, but you need to start saving up coins. C'mon, let's go to work. We'll choose something easy though, yeah?"

"Okay, but what if Jaya wakes up?"

"She'll be fine, Shira, come on. And don't worry about the slide, think of it as good for the pups."

Shira moaned, and left just after Ama.

Jaya lay there, staring at the ceiling. She remembered when she had been in the pup bin, mistaken for a dead cub when her mother died giving birth to her, and the gatherers had taken her. She sobbed, but not just for herself, but for everyone else.

**Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it! 2 reviews until the next chapter! Also, please check out my new ice age AU fanfic, Meant To Be!**


	13. Sayings are never perfect

Ama and Shira walked in silence, Shira's weakened body aching all over; with each agonising step she could swear her bones were threatening to snap in two.

They turned as they heard the pattering of feet behind, and turned to see Jaya, trotting along wobbly despite having a broken leg. For now, at least, the wood-contraption keeping her leg straight seemed to be helping her and the proud smile on her thin an fragile face showed largely, although looking in her eyes the concern glistened like snow on a tree; clear, yet miraculously beautiful.

Shira stared at the small jaguar in awe. Here she was, feeling sorry for herself, while the static cat staring at her was virtually hopping on a stick. This thought was mildly amusing, as Shira imagined Jaya hopping about on a bendy stick, and laughed in a quiet, giggly, girls way. Jaya smiled more, her eyes glazing with just a small amount of happiness, before turning back to the worried gaze she had sustained before. Shira noted the change in her friend's expression (she presumed they were over it All now) and cocked her head, flattening her ears, inquisitively.

Jaya sighed, fought back threatening tears and regained her bouncy posture, but Shira's puzzled gaze stole all self-control the smaller cat could muster. She broke down in sobs, and Shira and Ama sat beside her on the icy floor, for comfort.

"Jaya... What's wrong?" Shira asked, worriedly.

Jaya looked at her tiger friend, eyes glazed with tears. Shira was stunned, she had never seen Jaya cry, didn't even think it was possible. Suddenly, she realised what she was thinking; it felt like she'd been here forever. In an attempt to lighten the mood, she said, "does every day feel like a year here!". However, she knew it was pointless; something was deeply troubling Jaya and a few small jokes weren't going to erase it. The jaguar sighed, and suddenly, burst into tears. "Shira, oh Shira!" She cried, launched herself at the large tigress and refused to let go. "I'm so sorry, so, so sorry... You didn't deserve any of this! It's not your fault! I never should have explained everything before, I-"

Shira was stunned, and quickly responded with, "What do you mean jaya? What don't I deserve?" She prayed that he fears wouldn't come true...

"You're pregnant!"

Oh, great. Just did.

"I... It's not all bad... If they die, we'll have extra food..." She began, before realising how bad that sounded, and wished she could take back her words.

"Shira, I know they always say look for the positives... But there are no positives now! Don't lie to yourself, kitty- sorry - you know deep down it is dangerous!"

Huh? Dangerous? What was that supposed to mean? "Huh?"

"Shira, you are a tiger... He is a lion... You know what a lion tiger hybrid is, right?"

"Uhrm... No..."

"A liger, Shira, a liger! They are abnormally large, few tigresses can survive the birth! And even if you do, their lives will be miserable! They are confused creatures who need SPECIFIC nutritional needs... They are likely to die a confused, premature and painful death! The only hope is that they are very strong, and maybe the crew will give them what they need but even so... Look around you! Who would want to grow up here?!"

Shira was astonished. She could die? They would die? Why is death so common?!

"Argh!" She screamed, clenching her fur, "I've had so much trauma in one day! My family is dead! I am going to have cubs! They will die! I will die! Why can't I live a normal life?!"

Jaya walked to Shira, and pulled her paw away from her fur. She patted her back, reassuringly. "Don't worry, tigress. Me and Ama, we won't let you die. I promise." She hopped a little clumsily around Shira and prodded her side. "C'mon, cheer up! Right, you will be preggers for about 4 months... That means, we have plenty of time to make sure you are ready to have the cubs. We will schedule days off work when you are due, which will be..." She stumbled across to a carving in the ice wall, "First full moon in autumn. That's good, me and Ama will definitely be here, because they decide what to do with us lot once a season, in the middle. You are lucky, it was a few days ago the last one."

Shira was down heartened. She might loose her friends? She sighed, sadly.

"And by that time, I reckon they'll move you up. Sabers are rare, they move em up real fast y'know. Shame I can't say the same for kangaroos and jaguars."

Shira sighed, and nodded sadly. "C'mon, Ama. Lets get to the work room, and you can come too if you feel up to it jaya."

Jaya snorted. "Why wouldn't I? I'm fit as a fiddle, ya know!"

Shira eyed Jaya's scratched face, and broken bleeding leg. "Yeah. Never better." She chuckled, and the trio walked in silence to the work room.

Hope you enjoyed it! 2 reviews until I will update!


	14. A spot of fishing

The months passed slowly, and Shira was nervously awaiting the day her cubs would be born. She remembered when Jaya had told her that she would be due on the first full moon of the Autumn; she presumed that it would be a week or two from now, as Jaya had always informed her of the moon's condition, when she was working up on-deck.

The routine on-board the ship was dull. Every day, the crew woke up at "stupid o-clock in the morning" (this was adopted as Jaya's phrase in the morning) and were sent to work, depending on their group (the animals were sorted into group A and group B - group A on the left, and B on the right) as to when they went. After a grueling two hours, they took their 'pay', aka breakfast, to a desk just before the end of the roller-coaster, where they would receive it when group B had left. The rest of the day continued in the same fashion, and rest periods were used for sleeping, mainly, because about 5 hours of restless sleep is enough for no-one.

Even the battles were dull; the crew were locked in home room, although able to get down and socialize, whilst blood was spilt overhead. The grate that separated the animals' food was lifted and bowls were cleared away to allow the animals to get down. The were vines attached to each crate which were used to lower yourself down to the ground, because no-one really wanted to jump up to 25 meters onto a cold ice floor, especially Shira, in her condition.

As Shira and Jaya walked towards the work room, they chatted about life. Of course, this subject didn't last long... after all, a sentence virtually covered it. Instead, Jaya changed the conversation to Shira's pregnancy. "So, Shira... do you reckon you have enough coins to buy a fur pelt yet? Your gonna need it, seriously. It'll only make the pain worse if you are lying on rough logs. And its getting nearer to winter, you know how cold it is at night... it'll be a treat for you."

Shira's heart fell. For a short moment, she had managed to forget the fact that she was having cubs in a few weeks. She opened her mouth to speak, but recoiled in pain at an especially hard kick. Jaya, protective of her poor friend, rushed to her side immediately. "Shira! Are you okay!" She virtually screamed, catching the attention of severaly animals around them. Shira huffed, retorting with "I'm fine, Jaya!" before seeing the funny side of her friend's panic, and laughing a bit. "Come on, lets get to work. I'm starving, and these things..." She poked her rounded stomach, "Are no help at all!"

As the duo reached the door, Jaya checked Shira was up to it once more, obviously concerned by the kick. After a sharp "Yes!" from Shira, she gave in and opened the door. She looked around, before turning to Shira and saying, "All the runners are taken, the meat ones anyway. We're gonna have to do something else."

"Aww... I'm starting to get good at this though!" Shira moaned, before asking again, "What else is there, except the hauling work?"

"Well, there is only three choices of work, because most of it is done in newbie camp. Theres the running logs, which power the propellors, the hauling work and fishing."

Shira was surprised. Why had Jaya made her do running if there was fishing available? She snorted, and told her, "Lets go fishing. I guess it'll be the worst amount of food available, but ah well!"

"No... you get the most food, actually. Well, if you work hard, and you have to work for 4 hours, not two."

Shira laughed, and replied. "If I get more food and its easier, I just have to work longer, lets do it!" She smiled at her luck. Seriously, how could fishing be hard?

"You'll see..." Jaya replied and trotted off, Shira in tow.

When they reached the fishing room, Shira was surprised to see how empty it was. She saw Jaya go towards some vines, and then tied one to her leg. She called Shira over and then tied it onto her leg, as well.

"This way." Jaya said, leading Shira to a large hole in the ice, where sea-water lapped. This is the bottom of the ship-hence why it is cold- and there is the ocean. Right, the vine is spring, just tie it onto the hook, very tightly, and then I'll show you what to do."

Shira did as she was told, confused, and then waited for further instructions.

"Right, now you are going to have to hold your breath when you dive-"

"DIVE?!" Shira exclaimed, shocked.

"Yes, dive. I did say it wasn't as easy as it seemed... You can't back out of it now so you'd better listen, huh," jaya said, smiling at Shira's innocence.

Shira nodded, petrified, and dived. She held her breath like it was diamonds, and nearly screamed when she shot back up.

She looked at Jaya, dripping wet, shivering, annoyed. "What has this got to do with fishing?"

Jaya turned to face Shira and dropped a fish from her mouth. It jumped around on the ice floor, and the jaguar had to try hold it to stop it hopping away. "Catch them. It's quite easy, then put it in the bucket next to the hook."

Shira sighed, and did as she was told. Three hours later, she had gotten used to this water thing; this wasn't such a bad job! Her bucket was barely halfway, while Jaya's was virtually overflowing, and she smiled when The jaguar snuck her one of her catches.

Shira shivered from the icy water; the only part she hated, and dived. Her eyes saw a fish and she got ready to open her jaws and grab it, when a small shark swam past her and caught her back leg with its tail. Shira moaned in pain and panicked as the water went into her throat, but was soon back on te ice thanks to the springy vine. She coughed and spluttered, and jaya patted her back.

"That's enough for one day, huh?"

Shira nodded, an Jaya helped her get up. "C'mon, let's go to the shop."

Shira agreed, carried her bucket to the desk and poured it into a hole, as did Jaya, which then began chopping it into small peices. Shira watched as the fish pieces went down a hole, and vanished. "Jaya, what do I do now?" She shouted, her paw burning with pain where the shark caught it. Jaya signalled for Shira to follow her, an she discreetly limped over. "Darn it!" She thought, "I bet I've broken it!"

She held a wooden bowl under a chute, as did jaya, and collected her half ridiculous ration of fish. "In case you were wondering, the vegetarian chutes are on the other side. "

The duo walked in silence towards the shop, mainly because their mouths were full. Shira was slightly behind so Jaya would miss her limp. The cat had been so helpful already:- she didn't want to take advantage.

She and Jaya purchased a fur pelt each, and Shira also bought a stick and a piece if vine. When jaya asked what it was for, she simply replied you couldn't be too prepared with a rather unconvincing smile. The duo then worked together to pull the bowls of food and the items they had purchased to their cages, making a sort of sled with te fur and vine. When they reached the cages, they offloaded their stuff, and went in their cage. Suddenly, Shira felt a sharp pain, and knew what was coming. She stepped out of her cage quickly, so that Jaya wouldn't ge wet when her waters broke. She gasped, limped into the cage and called down to Jaya, "Help!"

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	15. Never the Same Again

Jaya looked up at Shira through the wooden logs separating them, missing the urgency in her voice.

"Hmm, what's up Shira?" Shira growled in frustration, and snapped back, "I'm only giving birth, here!" She shouted, before collapsing in a flood of tears. Jaya sighed, partially in annoyance, partially because she was scared, and partially because it was funny. Those mood swings!

She called up to her, "Here, chew this bone! I'm going to find Ama, she has... Experience." She said the last word bitterly.

"No, Jaya-" Shira pleaded, but the jaguar had gone. She gasped in pain as a contraction hit her suddenly, and a few animals looked up, although most didn't. It was common (kind of) to see the animal across from you having a baby. She bit down as hard as she could on the bone, grateful to be able to try and ignore the pain. As another contraction hit, Shira realised that she may not have the time to wait for Jaya and Ama to get there, and felt tears roll down her cheeks. She decided, it was best to get this over and done with.

At the next contraction, Shira knew it was time, and pushed, her agonised leg from where the shark had hit it making the chore even more painful. She bit hard down on the bone, which began to splinter slightly, and then felt the pressure release. She looked behind her to see the small, lifeless body of her eldest cub. She cried hard, and in desperation, tried mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, a trick her mother had shown her. Surprisingly, after a few attempts, the cub's mewling could be heard, and some animals in cages around Shira cheered. The saber smiled down at her hybrid cub, and saw it was a female. She had a small tuft of fur on her head, and was overall quite fluffy. For a Liger, Shira realised, she looked very tiger-ish. "Lycra." The older tigress said aloud to her cub. Her joy was destroyed at yet another sharp contraction, and the cub beside her mewled in confusion. Shira bit down on the bone, and clenched her paws (minus the broken-legged one). She heard Jaya return with Ama, and smiled gratefully, despite the fact that the next cub was so close to being born. In between raspy breaths, she gasped, "Jaya! Ama!" Gratefully, and with one final push, her next cub was born. Again, there was no mewling, but Shira could tell this one was beyond hope. She cried at its two heads, horrified. If they were still born, she would give some to Jaya to eat, but not this one.

"Shira, is that mewling I can hear?" Asked Ama in adoration. Shira almost cried. The female cub would be taken from her soon. "Yes."

"Aww!"

For the next half-hour or so, Shira had the rest of her cubs, six in total, but only three survived, one which was severely malformed, one of its legs too short, and it had different coloured eyes. Its tail was like a lion's, but with the stubby tail of a saber on the end, and it had one long canine protruding from its mouth, while the other living cubs had two, and the dead ones didn't. The others premature hearts were just not strong enough to let them live. Shira was crying her eyes out, knowing that she would have to give up her two living, non-malformed cubs (one male, one female [Lycra and Sygnat]).

She called down to Jaya, "Here." And passed her the lifeless body of one of her cubs. "Lunch." She spat, bitterly. Jaya was shocked. "I can't eat your cub, Shira..." She began.

"Please." Shira begged, "either you eat it or the captain does, I know who'd I prefer." Jaya nodded, a mark of respect. Shira quickly stuffed the lifeless bodies of her two other dead cubs into her storage hole, and began to nurse the living three. Just then, a monkey opened her cage and snatched the two correctly formed cubs from the young mother, closed the grate and ran off. Shira screamed, and called, but they weren't brought back. She sighed, And went back to nursing the malformed cub; he was her priority now and whether he survived or not, she would make his life the best she could.

**2 reviews until I update!**


	16. Rise Above

For Shira, the night was long and tiring. The tigress was fairly used to tiredness as were all animals who lived at the lower part of the ship; sleeping on rough, scratchy wooden logs was hard and Painful, but the addition of the cub in her life made I even worse. The poor, malformed creature was constantly hungry, waking Shira up whenever she was able to doze off by nursing. In the morning, she was so aggravated that as soon as the grate was lifted to take her to work, she shot painfully past the monkeys, despite her throbbing leg which she assumed was likely broken, and ran straight to the roller-coaster contraption which she was now used to. The pain she felt was normal. not generally this extreme... but always around anyway; shira had gotten used to shrugging it Off.

She had never thought it before the bumbling creature was born, but now, she doubted if she wanted anything to do with the cub that awaited her arrival. For sure, a part of her was grateful that the other two were taken away.

As she waited for Jaya and Ama at the bottom of the roller-coaster, she wondered what she would be doing now on her previous ship. Four months ago, she enjoyed life. Now, it was just a wreck.

The jaguar landed silently next to Shira, and smiled at her. "Did you sleep well?" She asked, genuinely. "How's the cub?"

Shira snarled. "To he'll with the cub, I didn't get a wink of sleep thanks to that pile of stupid fluff!"

Jaya jumped back in shock, and prayed that Shira would get used to being a mother soon. Shira grumpily stormed off, and Ama landed next to Jaya. "Someone had a rough first night?" The jaguar approved this with a nod. "Ah well, she'll get over it. Right, we'd better follow her, and Im sure if we can fix her broken leg she'll be a bit less grumpy."

The pair began to run (or hop in Ama's case) after Shira. Jaya asked, surprised, "Shira's broken her leg?" Ama looked at the jaguar an smiled:- she didn't notice medical things. "Yes, her limp is dreadful." She laughed a little, and the duo sped off.

The saber turned into the running room and trotted over to a log. Her leg was close to bursting, with the pain she was experiencing, but she ignored it. She had her pride to think about, and however much she was dreading the two hours of intense running, she knew she would look weak if she didn't.

A few minutes later, Ama and Jaya sped in, panting already. They took the two logs next to Shira in the quiet room, thanks to the fact that most animals dawdled to work, and began to run. Between breaths, Jaya panted, "Shira... I don't know if you heard, you were asleep when the notice came, believe it or not, but we are close to land and they are going to do the sorting of the animals later today, if we get there in time. That means that you will most likely be separated from us... They move sabers up to the top as soon as they can. And... I just want to say I'm going to miss you, Shira."

The saber felt tears come up and threaten to fall but she pushed them aside. "You'd better listen to me, then, because I'm better than you!"

Jaya knew the words were just because Shira was tired, angry and still hormonal, but they left a huge mark.

"Take the dead cubs, Jaya, I don't need them. They are just pathetic and I can't bear the sight of the horrid things!"

Jaya sighed. Did Shira really mean it? She wondered sadly.

For the rest of the two hours the threesome were completely silent.

As Shira, Jaya and Ama walked back to their cages, Shira looked at Jaya. The jaguar could see remorse in the larger cat's eyes. "Take care, okay, whatever happens when we get off." Jaya nodded, sadly, and so did Ama.

When they reached their cages, Shira was shocked to hear no hungry mewling to greet her. "Thank god!" She thought, "it's asleep!" But as she stepped in, she knew she was wrong. The baby was not breathing:- it had died in two short hours.

Shira sadly picked the cubs out of her storage hole and placed them through the bars to Jaya, even the two-headed one. "Be safe." She whispered. "I'm going to miss you. both of you." She said the last bit louder, and then suddenly the boat jolted to a stop. Jaya told her, "we've hit land. Just do as you are told, I'll be right back."

About fifteen minutes later, The lion who Shira hated with all her being stepped onto a ledge and boomed, "Go up onto top deck. Single file, in silence!"

The animals left their cages and silently followed eachother to the top of the ship, tied together to stop them running away. Shira savoured the sweet fresh air that she hadn't smelt in months, and smiled. However, her smile vanished as they were shove roughly together, putting excruciating pain on her broken leg, and she nearly let out a scream, but regained control? As the monkeys circled them, tying them with the longest piece of vine Shira had ever seen, forcing all the captive animals, big and small alike, into a small circle which took up roughly half of the top ice deck. Where was Jaya? Shira struggled to breath and took small steps as the group was pushed towards a massive wooden slide, which went right down to the sand.

Jaya joined Shira impossibly just before the group was shoved down, tumbling this way and that. They landed, and animals struggled to get up, some spitting sand from their mouths.

The group was moved towards a large pen made of wood and then shut in. The vines were cut, but the animals had scarce space to move anyway.

One by one, they were lifted from the group by large birds, roughly six birds to one animal. Whenever a mammoth was picked up, it was quite funny watching about thirty birds all struggling to lift the beast up, but they managed, all the same.

Shira held in her puny breakfast as she was picked up by the birds for her turn, and a collar, like the one she ha worn on her first day, was placed around her neck. A great ape led her around an ice obstacle course, and much to the captain's glee, she complete the entire course perfectly.

The bear strode over to the ape and said in an intimidating voice, which sent chills down Shira's spine, "Take her up to the shipmates' rooms, she can have Sarlos' one. Oh, and he can be sent to camp for being a traitor."

Borlo nodded (Shira now recognised him as the one who took her to her cage) and led Shira off. "Come on, miss." He said, and despite the bitterness, Shira enjoyed the sudden respect.

Shira gasped when she saw her room. Compared to some of the other shipmates' rooms, it was small, but honestly she preferred it that way. Not cramped like the cage, but the right size for it to be cozy. Borlo unclipped her collar and led Shira around the ice room. The walls were decorated with paintings of seals, the like of which she had only heard of humans drawing, and she hated the design, but Borlo reassured her. "Don't worry, Miss Shira, you can get the room redecorated to however you like it. Hence why the walls are covered with seals, Sarlos chose it.

As they finished touring the room, Shira became more amazed by the second. There were sculptures carved from ice of seals, which would have to go, but were still beautiful. In the far corner of the room, there was a heated pool, which Shira decided also had to go, and supposadly it would be replaced however she liked. Th tigress decided on a simple style in her mind, a couple of soft, animal pelts on the floor and some sort bird feathers, surrounded by a contraption of more animal hides which made it look like a sort of basket.

"Dinner will be served when the sun is quarter between the tip of the mast and the sea. We will see you then, but I recommend you take a shower first, because you smell a bit, no offence."

Shira nodded, and she knew she smelt. Ah well, although water was her one enemy, she would face it. Besides, it would be heated for the higher members of society.

She strolled casually onto the top deck, very much accustomed to the new life already. She felt honoured to have a much higher authority than almost anyone else; she was a shipmate. Now, where are those showers?


	17. Just enjoying the View

Shira casually strolled through the icy corridors, enjoying the freedom, and she forgot that just a few hours earlier she had been confined in a small cage with a malformed cub and the pain at having lost them all, to death or the ship she thought of as home.

She saw some slight steam from a room ahead of her. That couldn't be the washroom... Could it?

She stopped outside and the smell of freshness overwhelmed her. She saw water pouring out of holes in the wall and then drain away through another at the very bottom. Suddenly, she realised something; the walls were made of wooden boards, it seemed, with clear ice surrounding it. "Ahh." Shira sighed, lavishing in the warmth that she had not experienced since about four months ago.

She stepped under the water and sighed in pleasure as the water washed the grease, which had piled up during her time below decks, on her shiny fur. Diving into the sea as she fished earlier only made her glorious and odd coat salty and matted. She suddenly remembered that she had seriously injured her leg, so why wasn't it hurting? She looked and, to her surprise, it had a bandage and wooden pole tied on:- she sighed and assumed they had done it while she was in the pen, as her trial was absolutely pain free, minus the collar.

She was about to get out from under the water, coat glossy and shiny, looking much more alive, when she slipped on the grease and landed splayed out on her stomach. She got up, shook her head and carefully stepped out, this time.

She instinctively shook herself, splattering the wall with water. Her sleek coat was ruffled up, and she was very annoyed at herself. How could she have been so careless? She needed to make a good impression on her fellow shipmates and scruffiness wasn't likely to be the number one tip of the day.

She looked around and saw a large hole in the wall with air blowing out of it, which Shira presumed was to help you dry off. The air was probably coming from the motor room, as did most of the power. She sighed, got back into the shower and then got out, slipping a little but quickly regaining her balance. She trotted over to the blowing machine and stood there as the wind blew at her coat. However, when she looked at her fur, it was not as glossy as she had expected but was instead was ruffled up everywhere.

She saw a sign which read : for assistance, press your paw or hoof onto the paw print below.

Shira did as the sign said and about a minute later a small horned beaver arrived in the room. Shira snapped at the creature, thanks to her higher status she was allowed, and told it to smooth her fur down, pronto.

About five minutes later the shiny, pampered tigress left the bathroom, and trotted up to the top deck, head held high, making the most of her superiority.

On the deck, the animals who had not been promoted were in two groups; The keep group and the sell group. To Shira's utter dismay, Jaya and Ama were both in the sell group. The jaguar looked straight at Shira with a pleading look in her eyes. Shira cocked her head inquisitively and Jaya nodded towards the side of the boat where The tigress saw a large gap in the ice wall, but it was covered over the top with some ice. Jaya motioned to Shira what to do, and In a final plea of thanks Shira did as she was told, and quickly cut the ice away with her paw. She didn't know what the jaguar was planning, but now, she realised that she had to trust the jaguar. Even if Jaya wanted to drown, however cruel it seemed, Shira had to oblige. The task was like Jaya's dying wish and Shira would never deny her of it.

Hours passed and the animals stayed in their groups until the vessel was way out to sea. For the poor animals tied together, it must have seemed like years, but eventually, the shipmates cut the vines one at a time. The first group (keepers) consisted of roughly twenty animals. Each were put in a studded collar and escorted below decks by the shipmates. Shira, however, was forced to stay above. The bear figured that she couldn't be trusted enough quite yet.

After all the keep animals had been towed away, it was Shira's job to lead the sell animals to a large circular hole in the floor that had been hollowed out low enough so that the squished animals were unable to jump out.

As Shira pushed the animals in the hole she glanced at Jaya and Ama sadly. She felt emotion and pain like never before. However, the duo shook their heads and just indicated to a piece of vine. The bear, who was the only other shipmate above decks, went into his office. Jaya winked sadly at Ama and whispered to Shira, pretend to try herd me. Do the same for Ama.

Suddenly Jaya popped gracefully out of the hole, and to Shira's disbelief she realised she had some sort of springy vine attached to her foot. She ran breathlessly towards the ice less side and Shira mimicked trying to catch her. The bear stormed out just as Jaya jumped and Shira, holding back tears, shouted "Darn!" With all the force she could muster. The bear grabbed her by the scruff, furious. However, He quickly let go and shouted at Shira, "Catch that kangaroo!" She did as she was told and following the plan, herded Ama back to the hole. This seemed to earn the captains respect and he clapped her on the back.

Shira went over to where Jaya had jumped and stared into space, tears falling. The bear approached her, and said in a booming voice, "Dd you like that stupid kitten?!" Shira, whizzed around, shook the tears away, and remarked, "Just enjoying the view." And padded off.

The bear didn't chase her. Shira decided, her response was acceptable.

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	18. Loosing big time

Shira hurried down to her room and straight into the corner, where she curled into a ball and sobbed her heart out. She rocked, back and forth, trying to comfort herself.

Her best friend was dead. Her other close friend was to be sold later that day for food or treasure to another pirate crew. And here she was, at the top of society, and while she thought the cushy life was admirable it was completely to the contrary. In that one moment, Shira knew that she could never afford to have such close friend's as Jaya and Ama, as she never wanted to go through the pain she felt now again. In that one moment, her mind was made up; she would never again allow herself to trust another animal to the extent she did with the two previous partners. She sighed, wiped off the tears and left her room. She quickly shook to get her coat a little less slick; she had quickly realised that posh wasnt pirate fashion. If she was to be a good ship-mate, she needed to be respected and have authority.

As she walked to the top of the ship, she decided on getting a name as the proud sabress onboard the ice ship, and to do this, she walked up to top deck casually, but with her tail lifted to show importance. As she reached the top deck, she did a dainty skip and lightly padded across to join the bear, stepping lightly on tip toes across the ice floor, which was surprisingly not slippery.

As she progressed across the vast space, she couldn't help but turn her head to the captive creatures. Ama caught her eye, and her proud self snapped. She looked back at the kangaroo with shining eyes, and lowered her head.

"Hey, Shira!" The bear called, "Come meet the other shipmates!"

With a final look at Ama which clearly read "I'm sorry", Shira quickly padded off towards the cabin which was currently occupied by her fellow shipmates.

As she entered, she gasped at the sheer beauty of it. In the middle was a large piece of wood, which the captain seemed strangely proud of. Shira soon found out why when it rose up to lean against the wall, and revealed a large square hole in the ice floor, covered with soft and heavenly skins. The captain turned his paw to it, indicating for Shira to try it out, and she did. As she hopped down onto it, she felt it sink and, after inspection, noticed hundreds... Thousands of feathers from baby birds beneath. While she felt a little cruel... They were babies after all... She also couldn't help but enjoy herself.

As she got comfortable, the captain smiled with relief and told her, "you can get your bed made like that". Shira smiled, and fell back into near-heaven. "I will see if I can get you any feathers. We only supply animal skins onboard this beauty of a ship, believe it or not. The birds are vital to the running of this baby, because they transport messages and find other ships. Also, I'm sure you've heard about the birds' duty in a storm?" Shira nodded. "Well, strangely we haven't had a storm yet, but we soon will and you'll get used to it. But, as I was saying, we don't do feathers because only baby birds have soft feathers and anyway, the older birds need to be able to fly."

Shira nodded, barely actually listening. She was too comfy.

"C'mon, Shira... I'll show you the bathing pool." He beckoned to her with his head and the two left through an arc, leaving the rest of the crew to do what they pleased.

Shira sighed as steam hit her in the face and warmed her body. Despite having evolved to be able to survive in the ice age, the sabress never denied the chance to have a bit of warmth.

The bear beckoned for her to get it. She eyed the water nervously, but when she realised it was just the right depth to sit in, she didn't mind. While she hated water (despite living alongside it... Technically in it if you count ice as water-just frozen) she didn't mind this. It was heavenly warm, at just the right temperature, and as she was able to just sit in the same spot, without having to swim, she was happy.

"It gets deeper in the middle. I know sabers are not fans of water, so I won't make you swim. After all, that would not be enjoyable, would it?"

A few hours later, the ship landed on a fairly large island, where other vessels had also set their anchors. One of Shira's fellow shipmates, a female horned deer named Lassi, explained that this was where they traded workers for goods such as food, feathers and other items. Lassi was Shira's favourite shipmate; she was kind and actually gave the workers some respect. Shira felt honoured to have gained her friendship.

The captain, who Shira realised was only referred to as 'Captain', gave all the shipmates vines, with animals attached to a studded collar on the end, and the higher authority figures led the workers off the ship. Shira was glad that she had not been given Ama; instead, the kangaroo had been given to a larger, more burly looking kangaroo named Johnno. Clearly, Ama had been unneeded on the shipmates crew. Instead, she was being sold off. Shira hoped it was to a better life.

The captain stopped Shira before she could leave down the ramp and told her to hold her head high. The ice ship was the biggest pirate ship and if she wanted respect from other pirates, she needed to look the part and act like the best. Shira nodded, and head held high, went down the ice slope. Not watching where she was going, she slipped and skidded down the ramp, which she knew would not make a good impression. Eager to be the best, she grabbed a vine on the floor and whipped one of her animals (a tapir) and scolded it. "Watch where you are going, idiot!" She whipped it again, and it whimpered. It had done nothing wrong but Shira was not going to loose face already. She pulled the vines sharply and began a quick walk, nodding to fellow pirates as she went to the sales pit. She shoved the animals in, and then walked off, still with an air of authority.

The sale lasted about three hours. Shira watched as the animals were sold on, and kept control of animals who were hauling the traded items onboard the ship. It wasn't easy for them; the slippery slope and heavyweight behind was made only harder by the constant whipping telling them to get moving. Even with every single remaining worker pulling the loads, it seemed like a chore (even for the shipmates, who were bored as hell whipping the workers, and they weren't user immense physical pressure). After about half an hour, the food, drink, and materials were all aboard the ship and they were, finally, able to set sail. The birds were tied to the massive anchor and were whipped until the anchor was lifted out of the water and into its 'home' position.

The other pirates were all lounging around. It was common knowledge that the largest ship left first. Shira could see Ama talking with a great ape on the boat across from her and sighed. She looked happy, for once. She strained to hear however, and could make out quiet words.

"I'm going to call you Raz."

"But, my name is Ama..."

"No, mate, ya name is Raz. Much more pirate-ish. Now, what were you saying?"

"Nothing, Catain Gutt."

"Good."

As the ship began to pull out of the dock, Shira caught Ama's eye an the two friends smiled sadly at one another. As the ape and bear captains saluted in farewell, and Ama (now Raz, supposedly) turned to answer an order from her new captain, Shira's face fell. As the boats sailed in opposite directions, possibly not to see one another for months, Shira just stood and stared with a longing expression on her face.

The captain padded over to her and nudged her shoulder. "What's up with you, Shira? You were the same when the jaguar jumped overboard. You don't actually like those worthless creatures, do you?" He said jokingly.

"Yeah, Shira, do you really like such stupid, pathetic creatures as them?" The female eagle asked, curiously.

Shira had already lost face today, despite making up for it mostly, but she wasn't about to take the risk. "No!" She blurted out with a little fake laugh, "I was just... Thinking how horrid it would be to be so... Worthless and pathetic. I mean, COME ON, they seriously slack off! In fact, I think work hours should be increased!"

The captain pondered Shira's suggestion, before nodding. "I completely agree. I mean, look how slow we are going! Those stupid animals on the logs must be walking! Well done, Shira! I see great potential in you." I smiled. "We will be in the shipmate's room if you want us."

Shira nodded and smiled sweetly as the rest of the crew left. Lassi stayed behind. "Did you really mean that, Shira?" She asked sadly.

Shira looked into her eyes. "No."

"Then why say it?" Lassi snapped; she looked ashamed.

"I-"

"I've heard enough. I'll be inside if you need me."

With that, the deer gracefully trotted away, leaving Shira alone. What had she done? She let the tears fall, and succumbed to the warmth of her room, but lay on the floor. After what she had just done, she had a price to pay, and while she hated the idea she would try to repay it in some way.

Hope you enjoyed it! Sorry it's taken so long... 5 comments till the next one because of new arrivals... Ooh :P


	19. Saving A Saber

Three years later, Shira awoke from her lovely sleep to find that the boat was rocking like hell. She got up, stretched and went onto upper deck. She instantly wished she hadn't; she was finding it terribly hard to resist the power of the wind. As the storm strengthened suddenly, she knew she had to get out of the weather and jogged in a hurry to the shipmates room. There, the rest of the 'hierarchy' where sat, lounging around as workers served them with food and drink. Shira sighed, walked over to the soft feather mattress and flopped onto it. The eagle whom she had now befriended (as Lassi was much to soft for her liking now) laughed, and said jokingly, "Hello, little miss ballerina." Shira growled, but saw the funny side and laughed.

Just then, the Captain came in, followed by Kingo. In his rack was the unmoving lion that had given Shira hell years ago. The bear opened his mouth to speak, and said, "Mongo is dead", then he nodded and went into the pool room. Kingo finished the short speech. "He will be thrown overboard in his death-cave tomorrow. If you would like to attend, you can. It will be at the ship's bow, at noon." Then the overgrown deer turned tail and force his was through the strong winds outside. Shira shivered at the blast of cold air.

The captain called her, and Shira responded by going to see him.

"Shira, come here, get in." He smiled as she did so, "Now that Mongo is dead, we need someone to call the morning work shift and watch over the workers. Most of the shipmates already have their duties, and seeing as you are the fittest, most skilled member, I think you fit the bill. I mean, just in case trouble breaks out and Kingo and his herd are elsewhere, you can surely sort it out... Right?"

While in her heart, she could only hear "no, no, no" she managed to blurt out "yes." Before getting out, thanking the captain and going back to the comfy seat.

The storm was persistent, and didn't die down for hours. The birds were put out and were struggling to stay in the air, they were so drenched and tired. All the workers were made to work on the running machines, with three on a log to help the ship move faster. Eventually, Mother Nature had mercy and calmed her rage, leaving the workers exhausted, but the ship was hardly touched. A few small chips had been made to the exterior, the shipmate seal confirmed and life went back to normal.

Frassle, the eagle, decided that she was slacking off, and to her surprise, as she was soaring through the clouds, she saw an iceberg with five animals aboard; she naturally told the captain immediately of the creatures (two sloths, a mammoth, and a saber). The bear was overjoyed and ordered for the crew to throw the ship-anchors (which were skulls attached to a vine).

The shipmates all ran outside, ready for a possible fight if necessary, and Shira growled in excitement.

"Ahoy down there!" The captain cried, "What are you doing all the way out here, mate? Would you care to join us on our cruise?"

The mammoth was speechless. "I- I'm sorry, I just need to get back to the continent because..."

"What?!" The bear snarled.

"My family is there, they need me so we'll just be on our way..."

The shipmates gasped, and the captain snarled. "Oh, no, your on the way to me... Battle stations!"

The cannons were pushed down by Johnno who began firing at the iceberg, trying to see if he could hit the castaways.

The captain threw up the pirate flag, which was made of a snowhare's soft pelt, but dyed.

He snarled as the saber began to cut all his ropes, but then grinned again. "Shira! Fetch."

The silver sabress saw what the tiger was doing an nodded. "Aye aye, captain."

Just before The saber was able to cut the last rope, she ran ahead of him and bound him with a vine, making him unable to move. "What do you want?!" He snarled. Shira grinned sweetly. "Well, your name would be nice."

"Diego!" He snapped, wriggling.

"Well, Diego, you just got beaten by a girl. Hey, there's a first time for everything!" She grinned cheekily and shouted to Frassle, "come help me bring this one up, Frassle!"

The great, strong eagle came over and grabbed the vine, and began flapping to move the saber onboard the ice ship. Diego struggled, and the bird flapped her wings harder and harder trying to lift the crazed cat. Shira saw her struggle, knocked Diego on the head lightly which knocked him out until he was up on the ship.

Meanwhile, Johnno had gotten a slingshot which he had fashioned himself earlier that day, and was throwing berries with it which exploded upon impact. Supposadly, he had found them in the Dino world and had been able to clone them and grow them, but Shira didn't believe that. One especially ripe berry hit the mammoth right on the head and exploded, blocking his vision, enabling the pirates to tie him up. Ten large birds were called and they helped to lift him aboard as well. Kingo threw Sid up and, with his strong hind legs, kicked Sid aboard.

On the great ship, Shira placed a collar on the reluctant Diego, kicked his leg to shut him up and dragged him down, and out of the bitter sea air. As she led him, she decided that she would do whatever it took to get rid of him. If he stayed, he would be promoted quickly and she would not be the only saber any more.

When they reached the crate room, she shoved him aboard a crate (as Borlo had done to her) and tied the leash onto a hook. She then signalled to the monkeys above, who dropped the crate and it hurtled down.

DIEGO'S POV

As I hurtled down below the top deck of the massive ship, I resisted crying out from the pain of the studded collar. I was squished against the sides of the crate.

Suddenly, it jerked to a stop and some monkeys came through the bars. They removed my collar, but then began to feel around my neck. I growled, and snarled in pain as he clicked them together. As I began to fall down in dizziness, I managed to throw him against the side of the ice wall, killing him.

I awoke to the sound of the female saber, telling the animals to get to work. She looked over at me, and sighed. She trotted over, and through the wooden grate and the ice, she told me to miss the second slide. I had no idea what she meant and glared at her, but her eyes were not lying. I nodded all the same as I was yanked by the scruff of my neck from the cage, into the unknown.

As I was shoved into another crate like contraption and pushed down an icy slide, I held back my breakfast (from a while ago, I must admit). As I skidded down, I narrowly missed a block of overhanging ice and then saw manny and Sid coming down on the slopes next to me. Across from Sid was granny, beating him with her stick and telling him that he should be enjoying the ride.

As i went off the end of the slide my claws instinctively latched over the edge of the ice, but I fell down when a thud from manny made enough force to throw me off. As manny was about to go down the slide, I stopped him, saying it was dangerous. Sid, on the other hand, shrugged. He didn't seem to understand that when someone ties you up and puts you in a cage they weren't exactly innocent.

"Come on! How bad can it be?" He said and slid down the slide, hand over his mouth. I stopped manny following him. "Let's go this way." I said, pointing to a sidewalk just as Granny went down the slide too.

Manny and I where aghast when we saw what was happening below. Just then, we heard someone coming, and began to run, but I stopped (then so did manny) when I heard the female saber's voice. "So... You followed my advice, huh?" She said to me. "You shouldn't always be so trusting... Although this time it paid off."

I looked at her. She was my only chance. "Why are you helping me?"

She looked at me, then shook her head sadly. "I lost my family too, I want you to get back to yours. Besides, I like being the only saber anyway. I'm gonna set you lot free. But you must not tell a single soul or we are all dead meat."

I nodded, then looked at her. "Can you help us rescue our friends from the camp?"

She sighed. "It will be risky, but I'll try. You will need to go down there, though."

I was shocked, but nodded. I didn't know if I could trust her or not, but it was worth a shot.

Shira's POV

"Stupid, stupid! Shira, you are becoming soft! Why did you agree to help him?!" I cursed as she ran down to the newbie camp. "I will get done for this, I know it!"

As I entered the room after setting up my plan, I saw the mammoth and saber come down the slides. I sighed, and thought, "Here goes nothing..."

"Workers! The captain wants to see you in the Kitchen! Now! I'll watch them, don't worry!"

The workers quickly pelted off. When I knew they were out of range, I turned to the animals. "Everyone, this is the bottom of the boat, right! All sea creatures come here!"

As about thirty seals and other sea creatures advanced towards me, I told them all to go under the water aNd swim upwards with All their might. Then, I got the beavers, and any animal with tusks to cut a line in the wall. Water began to spurt in. "Everyone, hold your breath when you need to! And now... JUMP!"

All the workers did as they were told, and the ice came free. The sea creatures swam as fast as they could upwards and the chunk of ice was soon above water. Quickly I tried to finish my plan, by jumping onto the ship, but I missed and fell in the water. I struggled an splashed as I took mouthfuls of the blasted stuff, and called for help. I could hear the captain cursing above and telling Frassle to get me, saying I was his finest. However, just before she was able to begin pulling me up, I was pulled backwards by an unknown creature. Frassle couldn't pull me away from it, and she went to tell the captain, who ordered for a flock of birds to get me. The animal told me to hold my breath in an obviously put on voice, but I couldn't recognise who it was. It dived with me before the birds could get hold, and I was dragged under.

Or so I thought. I was suddenly pushed up through a hole in the ice, to cheering and I turned to see who had saved me. To my surprise, it was the tiger, Diego.

"What the-" I said between gasps for breath.

"Well, most animals can swim as babies." He grinned cheekily, and said, "besides, you saved us, I could only do the same for you."

I growled at him. He hadn't saved me. He had ruined my life! Taken away my crew, my family! But were they really?

"You are stupid!" I screamed, but he grabbed my paw and pushed me down. "Ah, but kitty, there is a first time for everything."

I growled at him and ran to the opposite end of the now-drained ship.

"Don't. Call. Me. Kitty." I snarled loudly.

"Nah, it's fitting, Tigress."

I growled. Only Jaya and Ama ever called me that, and he would never replace them. Even if he did just risk his life getting me out of the water.

Hope you liked it! Finally, we meet Diego! 3 comments for the next one!


	20. Really you?

Shira's POV

I lay at the front of the ship, tied up after I had tried to jump off the boat and swim back to my ship. I knew it was stupid. So did everyone else, but when I jumped my mind was set on getting back. And despite the fact that I almost certainly would have drowned, I had a chance until the mammoth caught me and pulled me back onboard. I didn't see how I was such an asset to their getting home, until I realized that they were only using me. I was

here, and if the Captain came to rescue me, and possibly harm them, they would throw me overboard. Yet, I couldn't understand why they had rescued me in the first place.

Normal POV

As Diego padded over to Shira, she growled in frustration and anger at him, but was pulled back by the vine when she tried to attack. He laughed at her, and put a bowl of food just out of her reach. "Now, are you going to be a nice kitty?" He said with a smirk. She sat down and put her head in the air. He was trying to bribe her. She put her nose in the air, and refused. She would not let anyone boss her around.

However, when night came, her stomach was growling in hunger, and her throat was so dry, that she had to give in. Diego smiled, and told her that she needn't be so snobbish.

"I am not a snob!" She shouted in protest, "And I shouldn't be here! I should be free to do what I like!"

Diego looked at her, annoyed. "You don't get it, do you? Why should I bother to swim over and get you when you clearly didn't want it?"

Shira looked at him, her eyes staring daggers and ice cold. She absolutely hated his confidence. "I don't know. Some stupid, pointless and pathetic plan of yours, no doubt?!"

Diego slapped her, and bounced around her flying paws. "Why are you so stuck up? Before all this, you actually seemed nice. Now... You are just being a stupid, power hungry idiot. I mean, I don't see how they could stand you!" He snarled, grabbed her leash and dragged her lower down. "It's gonna rain, tonight. No doubt you'd be only more grumpy if you were wet and cold."

He then tied her up, and left briskly.

Shira's POV

I pondered what he had said. He was so sweet it seemed, and despite my strong will I could feel my heart slowly melting in his presence. But, I had to be strong! I spun round, and bit the vine. Silently, I crept outside and jumped. Instantly, I regretted it. Especially at this time of night, the water was frozen cold and my energy drained quickly as I struck the water for my life.

"Well, well." Diego called down. "Look who is having a nice swim." He was mocking me. Just to add to ky annoyance, he dived in despite the temperature and began swimming around Me. "So... You really don't want to come, huh?"

I opened my mouth to speak but instead swallowed a mouthful of water, and went under. He pulled me up, however, and tied a rope around my stomach. He then tied a rope around my muzzle, which stopped me from talking, and swam me over to the back of the ship. He tied me onto a rocky hook, and then climbed upon a platform not too far away, but which Shira was unable to reach.

"Now, until you promise to keep out of trouble, you will stay there, with no food or water, and be bait to lure the sharks in. You might get your leg bitten off, and if you do, no one cares. They all hate you, your behaviour."

And then, he left. My body was beginning to convulse and I was absolutely frozen. Unable to call for help, I made a loud grunt and thankfully, he heard me.

"Do you want me to get you out?" He asked genuinely. I nodded. He pulled the ropes, and I was soon onboard the iceberg again.

Then, I even surprised myself.

I kissed him.

It was barely more than a small peck on the cheek, but it was enough to make him freeze. I then walked off, cursing myself but rather pleased, too.

The next morning, I heard the sound of ice hitting ice, and looked ice the side of the iceberg to see large icebergs hitting the sides, and land up ahead. I looked over at Diego, standing strong and proud at the head of the Berg. His fur was slightly blown back by the wind, but he looked amazing. And in that single second, I knew I'd fallen for the sandy saber.

Diego's POV

"Manny! Sid! Granny! We're back, we're home!" I could hear the herd members rushing up, and high fiving And cheering. I smiled, and then Manny shouted, "there they are!"

He was pointed towards Ellie, Peaches, and a few other animals who were stood on the ice cliff. He trumpeted, making my ears nearly burst, and then we could all hear the trumpeting back.

Suddenly, there was a scream as hunters gathered around Ellie, peaches and the others. Their spears sharpened, they looked ready to kill anyone who got in their way.

Manny and the others, including me, were petrified, but the silver grey saber made the first move.

Shira's POV

I leaped off of the boat and jumped from berg to berg, as fast as I could. I had to do this, as a thank you to Diego for saving me... Twice... And then I would leave. I'd stay on the island, possibly, or build a small raft and set off to find Captain. I couldn't stay, because I knew that Diego had stolen my heart, and I couldn't ask him if I had done the same to him.

As I reached the continent, my lungs were starting to hurt a little, but as I saw one of the hunters about to throw a spear, anger filled me and I launched myself onto him, and bit his throat. Blood spurted out, and I instantly knew he was dead.

Diego, manny and the possums arrived after, and together the five of us fought the humans. They retreated but I knew they would come back.

Then I ran. I had to get away now, but one voice stopped me.

"Shira?"

I turned.

"Jaya?"

Haha! Hoped you liked it! 3 reviews for the next one.


	21. Back to sea Blue

It seemed unreal. It had been three years since Jaya had left her, and yet here she was, as if it was yesterday. Shira rubbed her eyes, to make sure it was jaya and not some mind-trick, then ran over to her happily, and Bowled her over, in glee. She must have been eating well, because she seemed plumper. Diego padded over to them.

"Now do you wonder why I saved you?" He asked, and Shira shook her head and beamed at him. Then, suddenly, she remembered what she had to do. She had to go. To get away. She couldn't stay here; if she did, the saber would only break her heart.

She looked around and saw an opening in the trees. She looked at Jaya, smiled and then, to the whole here's disbelief, she turned and ran. Everyone looked at Diego.

"Why me? Jaya should go!"

Jaya snorted. "No thanks. I'm too tired. She's getting away! Please!"

Diego nodded and ran, shouting her name. "Shira! Shira, come back!"

The silver sabress ran at full speed through the woods, and knew she could easily outrun Diego. She had stamina and speed; the perfect combination. She ran faster, but skidded to a stop when she realised that he was no longer following her. She looked around, and he pounced as she looked away.

She yelped, and clawed at him in surprise. Her claws caught his chest, and blood began to spurt out. Diego was furious.

"You idiot!" He shouted, infuriated. "Now, you are coming back with me!" He then grabbed her by the scruff and dragged her along.

Just before they reached the herd, Shira pulled him aside. She was astonished at how strong he was despite his injury, which was almost pouring with blood.

She gasped, and attempted to lick his wounds clean. He stood there frozen, as she nursed him to health, and he realised what she had done for him. As she lifted her head to grab a leaf to wrap round his leg as a bandaged, he caught her head and held it in his steady gaze. They stood staring at eachother for a few seconds, then Shira worked uptime courage she had lacked earlier. She rubbed her muzzle against his cheek, and as he made no attempt to object, she made no attempt to stop.

About five minutes later, Shira backed away. They had begun to become too intense; she wasn't ready for it. She turned tail and began to walk to camp, when Diego called to her. She looked at him, and he smiled. "I love you Shira." He told her, and she smiled.

Shira's POV

As we walked, Diego was excellent company. We decided we would spend some time together rather than go back to the herd right away.

Soon, we reached a Small lake with a waterfall, and Diego dived in. He called for me to come in, but naturally, I refused. Instead he climbed out, promised to give me swimming lessons and then took me behind the waterfall.

I gasped at the sheer beauty of the place; the walls were decorated with crystals and gemstones, and there was just enough space for a mammoth. It was cosy, in a good way.

Being close to one another, we soon knew we couldn't control ourselves. I was petrified when Diego mounted me, knowing what was coming.

As we walked back to the herd after our alone time, the journey seemed hellish. My legs ached, and I had the butterfly feeling again. How perfect. Within one day of meeting him, I was gonna be a mother... Again.

Diego seemed petrified that he had mortally wounded me. He kept offering to carry me, and when I stopped and threw up (from the butterfly feeling) he fetched a piece of bark and forced me to sit on. However much I objected, he didn't seem to care and took me on a ride. When we reached a river, instead of casually hopping over it, he began to swim downstream. I hated it, but he said to not worry, that it was a shortcut.

Normal POV

At the mouth of the river, Diego 'misjudged' his timing and they screamed as they were swept out to sea. Diego pulled Shira off the board and told her to 'stalk the prey', which she did. Multiple times, she went under But each time, Diego was there to help her. By the time Shira and her new mate had reached the shore, she had thrown up twice that day and also learned to swim. She coughed as she lay, spewed out, on the sand, spluttering. Diego lifted her up, rubbed her nose with his and told her she did well. She smiled, then noticed Jaya was missing. Manny smiled at her, saying she was in the forest, about 150 metres away.

Shira nodded, and went to find her friend. Diego started after her, but was stopped by manny. He instantly understood, and a worried look crossed his face.

Shira was searching for about 5 minutes, before she heard Jaya's cries of pain. She stumbled through bushes until she reached a clearing, where she was greeted by a log in the face.

"Oh, sorry there." Ellie said. "Thought you were a dinosaur."

Shira laughed at the random comment (or so she thought) when she heard Jaya's cries and rushed to her. It was then she noticed Jaya's protruding, not slightly plump, belly, and quickly realised Jaya was having cubs.

Diego's POV

"I... There's something I gotta tell you, manny-"

"Don't tell me. That Shira, you like her, admit it!" He laughed. I sighed. "Yeah... About that... Uhm..."

Manny grinned. "What is it, pussycat? You two havin cubs or something?" He joked, laughing. I looked at him.

"Uh... Yeah, maybe." I replied.

Manny laughed harder. However, when I didn't join in, he realised I was being truthful. "Ah. Uhm... Lets start building the boat." I nodded, and the two of us worked in silence, gathering materials.

Normal POV

Jaya lay on the ground, exhausted. She smiled at Shira, and asked, "I got no Idea how you did it, tigress." The silver cat smiled, but on the inside She wasn't. Shira looked Jaya in the eye, and said, "I might have to do it again."

Jaya gasped, and hugged Shira, while the newborn jaguar triplets stumbled around them.

Meanwhile, Ellie and peaches, who were watching the duo, had no idea what they meant. Ellie whispered to peaches to pick up jaya, and Ellie held Shira on her back and carried the newborns with her trunk.

When they reached the beach, they greeted Manny, Diego and Sid (who had just got back from foraging, but had picked lotus berries. He ate one, and now his body was lying on the sand, and Granny was having a brilliant time burying him. Shira laughed, as did Jaya.

Everyone was allocated tasks. Shira and Diego were in charge of building a ship, for which reasons Shira had no idea why. As the two tigers fastened wooden branches (fetched by the three mammoths, of course) and froze ice around the outsides of the logs, Shira couldn't help but feel like a worker again. After all, for the past 3 years, she had been living in the lap of luxury.

After about three hour's long work, the herd had constructed a fairly size ship, about 40 metres long and 15 metres wide. It also had a hollowed out interior so that they could also go out of the rain if needed, and there was a supply of food that would last a long time. Diego and Shira had captured 34 gazelle, 9 snow rabbits and a couple of dead birds for their meals (and jaya and the cubs).

They pushed the boat off and all clambered onboard, and just as she was setting sail granny shouted out , "Bye, bye Sidney!" Everyone gasped, but Shira was again the first to move. She jumped across ice chunks until she got the the beach, grabbed Sid and ran as fast as she could. However, the ship's sail was up and she would never catch it, unless...

She grabbed two icicles as she ran, and tied Sid on, jumped into the water and used him as a sail. With her kicking as well, she managed to catch the boat just as it hit open water.

Diego helped her and Sid onboard, and took her below to warm up a bit. They had a room to themselves (as did Sid, granny, Jaya and the cubs, Manny and Ellie, and peaches) he covered her with the fur pelt that made their carpet (the vegetarians had grass... Too bland Diego called it.)

When she had warmed up, she headed above deck, but the freezing breeze forced her back down. The others followed soon after.

That night, as she lay next to her mate, she asked him, "Why are we going on the voyage, anyway?" He smiled at her, and replied that they had to find Jaya's mate, who had Been lost when hunters chased them all over the cliff (so, manny, Diego, Sid, granny and Jaya's mate). Unfortunately, the jaguar was split from us but we have been told he was sighted heading to An island, by a lookout bird.

"So, will we be staying there?" She asked him.

"Probably, it was getting crowded back home."

"That explains why there are so many gazelle then!" Shira laughed, and they fell asleep together.

Hope you liked it! 4 reviews please!


	22. Can't think of a title :P lol

Shira's POV

The storm blew all through the night, and while storms didn't usually deter me, growing up at sea and all, by the morning I was throwing up again, and was forced to go outside, into the harsh and biting wind, so as to no get puke all over the fur pelts. Diego stood next to me as I lost my supper from the night before, and comforted me as I sobbed. Even though it was his fault... His gentle presence certainly made me feel better.

After a few minutes, my churned up stomach calmed down and Diego helped me down below decks. We went into our room, and lay on the pelts together. I rubbed my muzzle against him, a sign of affection, and was about to go to sleep, when he rolled me over. "I'm sorry." He told me, sadly, "This is all my fault."

"You bet it is!" I shouted, and then apologised. It had been an unpredicted outburst and I felt bad. Diego looked at me, tears in his eyes. "I didn't want this to happen... I swear..."

I shook my head. "Don't worry. It'll be alright." I paused, looked at him sadly and continued, "I know what to do."

He looked at me, shocked. "What do you mean?" He asked. I looked at him, and hung my head. "I- I've had cubs before..."

He jumped up, and stormed out. I sat there, sobbing, until he came back.

Diego's POV

I couldn't believe it. She had already had cubs! But then, why was I so angry anyway?

"I'm sorry, Shira... I just... Wasn't expecting that. Tell me... Where are your cubs?"

She looked at me, tears in her eyes. "They... They are probably dead. I had them on the ship when I was a worker... And then had to give them up. And... They won't have been strong enough to survive. Four of them died within a few hours, and I gave them to jaya to eat because we were all so starved, and the other two were taken to the cub camp."

I looked at her. "That doesn't mean they are dead, though. Not necessarily."

She looked at me. "If I tell you they were ligers, would that change it?"

I looked at her. Ligers were especially large beasts, and well known for their specific dietary needs. I hugged her, and the silence was more powerful than words.

Normal POV

Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. By their second month at sea, Shira's stomach was rounded, and all she could say was that she was glad they hadn't met other pirates yet.

On the morning of the third month at sea, however, they did happen to come across another ship. Shira recognised it from somewhere, but it wasn't until the kangaroo who had been Shira and Jaya's best friend showed her face that she recognised where from.

Shira whispered to jaya, "it's Ama!"

Jaya, who was holding the triplets (Allie, Uba and Frannie) by a loose leash (to stop them falling overboard, gasped -at the sight of Ama. Meanwhile, on the ship the hopping pirate gasped at the sight of her living friend, who had cubs, and her other friend who looked as if she was expecting.

Shira's POV

The ice boat smashed into ours and hooked itself on.

Manny trumpeted in annoyance at having to be captured by pirates again. "Oi!" He shouted at the pirates, kicking some pebbles behind him, "Let us go!"

The monkey aboard the ship laughed, and replied, "never!" He then made some signals and canons began shooting balls of ice everywhere. Peaches and Louis led me down below deck (i forgot Lewis, he has a room too) claiming it was too dangerous above, but as soon as they let go of me I ran above and shut them in.

Meanwhile, the war was in full swing. My leg was hit with a flying ice shard but I just yanked it out as it began to penetrate my skin and put my paw over it, to stop bleeding.

Just as the ape jumped down to try and fight manually, I heard a vine snap and turned to see my mate about to snap the last remaining vine holding the pirates boat to us. The green cord broke, and our ship was free. As we began to sail away, I saw Ama jump, and she landed on our ship. Me and Jaya rushed over to her, and engulfed her in a hug which could only be given to a long lost friend. However, I quickly pulled back. Her fur was messed up and smelt, well... Like a casual pirate (who didn't live on an iceberg which had hot baths). "Geez, Ama, do you never bath or something?" I teased, And led her downstairs. "C'mon, you stink!"

Diego's POV

Jaya laughed, and So did i as i padded up next to her. I looked at her and said, "How do you guys know eachother?"

She then began to explain to me her, Shira and Ama's story up until the point where they got separated.

About 5 minutes later, Shira ran up excitedly, claiming that one of the cubs had kicked! She ran over to me and almost bowled me over with glee.

Normal POV

Ellie punched Manny on the shoulder as she watched the sabers talking. "See, for once Diego is more sane than you!" She laughed. Manny looked offended.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, remember just before we went to dino world? You were fussing and screaming for no reason."

Manny remembered it as if it were yesterday. "Oh. Right. Yeah." He said, a bit annoyed.

An hour or two passed and the herd was lounging around. Even the cubs seemed to be tired in the heat, and the top deck was covered with all the 13 animals.

Shira got up, stretched and padded over to Ellie.

"Hey, you remember when Jaya was having her cubs? Why did you think I was a dinosaur? That was a bit random."

Ellie laughed. "Yeah, sorry. I had peaches down in dino world so i can't relate to anything else."

Shira's POV

I was stunned. "So, it was true? You really did go to dino world?"

Ellie nodded. "Yeah, because Sid got kidnapped by a trex whose eggs he'd stolen." I laughed. That was exactly like sid. She nodded and turned to go, but Ellie tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey, you know Diego is mad about you, right?" I nodded. "He loves you, and the cubs." She patted my rounded stomach, "And while it wasn't planned, I know you'll be a great mother."

I nodded, but wasn't so sure. After all, I'd abandoned the last litter. I spun around as I heard a scream, and saw Ama being dragged off the boat by a large elephant seal.

"You should never have left. Cap'ns got it in for you now hope you have an excuse!" And he swam off with Ama. I was about to jump in after, but Ama shook her head, pointed to me and imitated cutting my throat. Me and jaya cried as she was taken away.

As the sky began to cloud over, we all went down below for dinner, silently. Me, Diego, jaya and the cubs ate away from the others; the sight of blood made them feel sick.

As the boat rocked in the storm I shivered, and Diego pressed against me to keep me warmer. Our room was small, designGed to be warmer thnks to body heat.

In the morning, I was awoken to a crashing sound as the boat hit something. I went above deck, and realised we had moored on an island!

"Wake up, everyone! We're here!"

Thanks for reading! Hope you liked it! 3 reviews!


	23. Changed

All the animals hopped off the ship, which was tied to a tree, and Peaches looked at the island from the top of the tree. It was a beautiful place, with trees and grasses and a hopefully sleeping volcano, and even a gathering place for animals. She soon realised, however, that it seemed too violent to be a friendly meeting. She hung down from the tree by her tail, and informed the herd.

Manny took charge. " right, we are going this way! If patch is anywhere, he'll probably be there! We must be quick, though!"

Diego and Shira travelled at the back, and Shira asked Diego who patch was. He laughed, and replied; " Patch is Jaya's mate. I would have thought you'd have been able to gather that by now."

Shira laughed. "No, I didn't. " she admitted.

As the herd progressed through the wood, Shira could swear the ground was too hot, especially for an ice age. She shrugged it off, however, and carried on walking, reluctant to be left behind.

Soon, as the herd travelled further into the woods, they began to notice the heat too. By the time they had reached the meeting point, they could swear they were standing on hot embers and it took a lot of bravery to stay still. In fact, the whole herd soon gave into the pain and all ended up in the trees, even Manny.

As they watched, Jaya kept sobbing. She could see her mate, but Manny was refusing to let her rescue him just yet.

To Shira's surprise, Patch seemed cruel. He kept shouting and slashing animals, and they seemed to look up to him. She had no intention of going down there, alone, that was for sure. In fact, it wasn't until Ellie saw smoke coming from the top of the volcano that he let anyone get down.

As soon as Manny said that it was time to get him back, Jaya leaped down enthusiastically from the tree and ran straight up to him, bowling him over. However, instead of a loving greeting, he snarled at her, and smiled coldly. "Jaya..." He said with an evil smirk, "How lovely to see you... My mate!" He spat, and advanced on her. "My mate, who I believed was loyal!" He snarled again, and slashed her cheek. "My mate, who ran off with another cat!" He growled, and knocked her to the ground.

"N-no! It was only my friend, we were going hunting..."

He held her around the throat. "Females. Do. Not. Hunt!" He snarled angrily. "That is the male's role!" He slapped her, and shoved her to the ground. His claw began making its way towards her throat on the sandy floor.

"Patch! The volcano is going to explode! We have to leave now!" The male only laughed. "Give me the cubs. Then I'll let you go!"

"Never! You've become a... A monster!"

Patch slapped her. "How see you?!"

Shira had had enough, and began climbing down the tree, despite her condition. Diego tried to stop her, but she snapped back that sometimes you had to take matters into your own hands.

Her belly made it hard to crawl along the ground, but impossibly she managed it. She crept into a bush, and then pounced on Patch, knocking him away from Jaya.

"Run, Jaya, Run!" She shouted, As the jaguar below her squirmed and got his claw ready to slice her underbelly.

From the tree, Diego saw what was happening. He jumped down, and quickly took Shira's place, receiving the claw himself. In anger and pain, he bit down on patch's throat and didn't let to until he stopped breathing. Diego was shaking violently from blood loss, and Ellie quickly picked him up with her trunk. "Quick! Back to the ship! The volcano is about to explode, and Diego needs treatment. Hurry!"

They all ran back to the ship, Manny carrying the weakened Jaya and Shira running painfully behind. Her stomach was killing her, and she knew she didn't have long.

When they got aboard the ship, Ellie ran below to treat Diego and Jaya, and Shira collapsed in agony. She knew the time had come, but she wasn't ready.

Suddenly, a loud bang sounded as the volcano erupted, and lava poured out. Manny slashed the rope, but suddenly Sid, of all animals, realised one of the cubs was missing. Peaches screamed when she saw that one of patch's comrades, a wild boar, had the poor cub in its mouth, aNd she quickly took action.

Ellie ran above deck with jaya and Diego resting below, and watched as her daughter trampled the boar and grabbed the cub. Suddenly, lava came bursting through the trees. She shot the cub onto the boat with her trunk (Ellie caught it) and ran to a vine which was hanging on the side of the boat. She grabbed it and began flipping from vine to vine, until she was able to land on the boat. He foot had been burnt by the lava, but otherwise she was fine. She hurried downstairs to heal it, and Shira gasped as the first contraction hit her. She quickly hopped downstairs, so she could be with Diego and Jaya. After all, Diego was her mate and jaya had been there for her before. She couldn't do it without them.

Ellie and peaches hurried above deck, and stopped manny from running down at the sound of Shira's screams.

Shira's POV

Sweat drenched my forehead. Diego and Jaya were at my side comforting me, and I clenched my jaw shut as the contraction hit and I pushed. I soon heard the sound of mewling, and breathed heavily, relieved. Between breaths, I made out, "Only a few more to go! Lucky me!" And my friends laughed. I smiled, but it quickly turned into a frown of concentration and pain. Thankfully, a few minutes later, my fourth cub was born, and the pain ended. I sighed, and collapsed.

When I awoke, Jaya had gone above deck to get some fresh air, but Diego was still at my side, and the cubs were between us. He grinned at me when I awoke.

"Hello, my sleepy mate." He joked. I punched his shoulder playfully. "You'd be tired if you'd just been through what i did!" I shouted, but I couldn't hold a grudge.

My mate looked at me, proud, And asked me, "What shall we name them?"

I pondered for a moment. There were three girls, and one boy.

The first had silver skin, like me, but had Diego's larger build, as opposed to my smaller frame. She also had Diego's hazel eyes, but my shorter tusks. Her blue eyes were bright and really stood out. "Azul" I murmured, and explained to Diego, "It's Spanish for blue." He nodded, liking the name, and then we moved onto the other female.

She was small, like me, and had a very strange fur pattern. It was grey, like mine and her sister's, yet had large patches of Diego's fur as well. She had one hazel eye, and one blue, and her fangs were long and sharp. I instantly knew that she would be mistaken for weak, because of her size, even though she wasn't. In fact, she was the first cub standing. "Marble" I murmured. It seemed to fit, as her coat and eyes were different yet stunning.

The next boy had his father's fur and was certainly of his stronger build and size, but he had my canines and his tail was smaller and pointed. His ear had a random hole in the too corner, and I vowed to make sure it didn't get infected. His hazel eyes were quite dull in colour, but they seemed to suit him. "Rusty." I said, an Diego agreed, again.

The final female cub was a spitting image of her father, except was smaller in build. I looked at my brave mate. "SHe looks like you... So you can name her."

Diego looked shocked, and pondered for a minute. He eventually decided on "Karma." When I asked why, he told her that Karma was a myth, just like his daughter, and he claimed that she couldn't be real, she was so pretty. I laughed, and told Diego that we should take the cubs upstairs to show the herd. He agreed and, painfully, we both got up.

Normal POV

Meanwhile, above deck, Manny was standing quietly on his own. Ellie walked up to him, concerned and asked why he was upset.

"Oh, it's nothing, it's just that my daughter is all grown up. She's not my little girl anymore."

Ellie nodded, and intwined her trunk in his. "Well..."

Suddenly, she was interrupted when Diego and Shira came up from below with the cubs, and the whole herd was looking at the tiny cats with love in their eyes.

Shira looked around. "Herd, meet Azul, Marble, Rusty and Karma." Everyone smiled, and congratulate them. Jaya offered to help them take the cubs downstairs for a bath, and the new parents willingly accepted.

Manny looked at Ellie. "What were you saying?"

Ellie intwined her trunk with Manny and opened her mouth when Sid popped up. "Hello!" He shouted, and manny glared at him. However, Ellie shrugged it off. "Don't worry. He needs to hear too."

Manny looked at her. "So, carry on..."

Ellie looked at manny adoringly and rubbed his face. "I know peaches isn't your little girl anymore... But perhaps this one will be." She looked at her stomach, and manny grinned in happiness. He embraced Ellie and rubbed heads with her, trunks intwined.

Sid looked at them. "Hey, Ellie, I can look after the baby if you want."

Ellie and Manny both looked horror stricken. Crash and Eddie offered to help, too. "Umm..." Ellie began, "I think we'll be okay."

Hope you liked it! That's it, the end of the story... BUT FEAR NOT! There will be a sequel, which will be released when I get 20 reviews on this chapter, with your views about the whole story. Each chapter gets about 100 views, so I'm sure you can do it!


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